Warframe: Tech
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: Anything made by man is as fallible and breakable as humans are. Tenno may live longer, be more durable, all of that, but they are no less fallible at times. Add in religious zealots and things get messy. This is a fanfiction. I own no rights to Warfame.
1. Chapter 1

**Unfortunate**

"Sergeant...I am sorry."

Those were not the words that now Sergeant Cass of the Corpus Special Forces had hoped to hear when Nurse Lissandra reentered the room. She had been shy and reserved when he had arrived, but while he had been in this place, however long he had been here, she had opened up a bit with him. She was a bit on the naive side, having been raised by the Clergy after her parents had died in an industrial accident but she was no wilting flower and she was a lot of fun at times.

She was very good company. His only real company. For lots of reasons.

"They said "no', didn't they?" Cass asked as he lay down the book he had been perusing. It wasn't that interesting anyway. It was odd, to say the least, to hold a piece of wood in his hand and call it a book, but the oddity had worn off after the first week or so he had been in here. It blurred.

"You are not healed, Sergeant." Lissandra said quietly. "We need to-" She broke off as Cass sat up. "Sergeant, please." She pleaded as Cass swung the remnants of his legs to the edge to the bed. "Please don't!" She begged as he quickly and efficiently disconnected himself from all of the medical paraphernalia yet again. He had gotten good at that, if he did say so himself. None of the monitors would see a thing if he didn't want them to.

"I won't make you carry me back to the bed again." Cass promised as he teetered a bit. His equilibrium was still off. Not that surprising after all of his injuries. He hadn't expected to survive what had happened, truth be told. Then to be _promoted_ for basically being the only one to make it back? That stung. He was as he always had been. He was a computer jock. Things might have changed a bit, but he was still a soldier and tech. The monitors told the docs what he _wanted_ them to, no more, no less. That was one reason he was in here. Regular healing facilities couldn't hold him. He patted the bed beside him. "I won't bite, Lissandra. I want to know what they said."

"Don't tell me you were not listening." Lissandra crossed her arms as Cass tried to look innocent. It didn't fool her. It never did. One thing he liked about her. "You know that Security will catch your hacking their cameras sooner or later. You know this."

"Security couldn't catch a _cold_." Cass smirked at the nurse's scandalized expression. Then he slumped. "I just want to talk to the Commander, Nurse. Is that so wrong?"

"I didn't think so, but he is unavailable." Lissandra moved to the bed and sat beside Cass, her face worried as she looked him over. "You know you cannot stay detached from the systems, Sergeant. There is too much damage. You need to take time to heal. Please?"

Cass did not move as she covered his hand with her own. He knew she felt for him, but he would not take advantage of that. That was not altruism or some silly kind of nobility. He had done so once with a young girl while a recruit into the Special Forces and what the Commander had done to him had been educational in so many ways. He would never stray across that line again. Even Violet's rage paled compared to Commander Horatius'. He did not move. He did look Lissandra in the eyes.

"How long have I been here, Lissandra?" He asked softly. She pursed her lips and Cass shook his head. "I do not think you have lied to me. Why not?" He asked.

"I was specifically told not to lie to you. I did ask for this. I need to become better at dealing with people." Lissandra said weakly. "I was so sheltered before. And now? I see you hurting but pushing past it and I can only admire that." She slumped a bit. "As for how long? Two and a half months. The first three weeks, you were unconscious and not expected to survive even with Special Forces augmentation and training. Then you were not lucid for a week." Cass nodded and she stared at him. "You knew."

"Computers do what I tell them to and that is what all the records say." Cass said quietly. "Especially now. You have been here day and night. I am sure you seen things you cannot explain." Lissandra stilled and Cass slowly shook his head. "And you have not told anyone. Have you?" Lissandra shook her head. "Why not?"

"The Clergy took me in." Lissandra said quietly. "After the Corpus killed my family." Cass sighed and nodded. "Did you-" She broke off as he shook his head.

"No, I didn't know that." Cass sighed deeper. "Such files are sealed beyond my abilities to open at the moment. That said? Such is not uncommon at all. Special Forces and the Clergy _both_ take the broken souls that are left after the executives are done with them. I ran after my own family was downsized for debts that they had no power over. I survived however I could and learned how to do what I do. I was the best at what I did." He scoffed. "Or I thought I was until I was dumb enough to try and hack a Special Forces server." His smile was a bit weak. "I won't make _that_ mistake again. I know when I am cut off. I am. I cannot access anything beyond this med facility's systems."

"Sergeant..." Lissandra started to move, but Cass laid his free hand on hers. He did nothing more, just left it there and she stared at it. "I… I asked for privacy. I told them..."

"You told them you wanted to try and make me happier." Cass said quietly. Lissandra went even more still and Cass shook his head as her cheeks heated. "Girl, I am not a good man for that. I am not practiced and frankly? I am not whole. I may not even be _human_ anymore after all this."

"You are more human than Nef Anyo will ever be." Cass stared at the nurse as hate colored her voice. That was the first time he had heard her angry. Even when he had thrown tantrums, she had been calm and gentle. Whatever had happened, it was deep seated and despite clearly being in the past? Still painful. Familiar painful. So… Very… Cass froze.

Lissandra gave a small squeak as he reached up and pulled her close. She was smart enough not to resist. Even hurt, he was far stronger than she was. When he spoke into her ear, it was soft and musical. Singing?

"Cold the air and water flowing. Hard the land we call our home..." He sang and then let her go as she gasped in shock. She stared at him, horror mixed with awe as he smiled at her. Then _she_ took up the words.

"Push to keep the dark from coming,..." She sang quietly and without any skill, but it didn't matter at all. Cass smiled and joined her words. "...Feel the weight of what we owe."

'This: the song of sons and daughters,  
Hide the heart of who we are.  
Making peace to build our future,  
Strong, united, working 'till we fall.'

Finally, as both knew it had to, the song ended. For a long moment, they both just stared at each other. Then Cass smiled a bit more naturally.

"I left a long time ago." Cass said softly. "My family was gone. Yours?" He inquired carefully. She bowed her head and Cass slumped. "I am sorry. I shouldn't ask."

"Anyo went nuts." Lissandra said weakly, her face desolate. "My..." She swallowed hard and Cass just held her as she shuddered. "My mom was a nurse and my dad..." She all but collapsed in his arms as he held her.

"I don't know all of what happened." Cass said very softly as he held her. She started to cry and he gave her a hug. "I didn't ask. Didn't go beyond what our briefings said, which was bad enough. I had nothing left there, so I left, stowed away on an outbound freighter. I had a way with computers even then, but I was lucky to survive. To wind up all but a slave again. For a very long time, I did bad jobs for bad people, then I wound up in Special Forces. You?"

"I..." Lissandra was sobbing hard now. "I can't..."

"It is all right, Lissandra." Cass said quietly as he stroked her short hair with his free hand. "You are not alone. I am not your family and we are never going to sleep together, but I do remember." His tone shifted to a soft but insistent whisper. "Push to keep the dark from coming."

"Feel… Feel the weight..." Lissandra's sobs faded and she slumped in relief. "Feel the weight of what we owe." She nodded, brushing her tears away. "Thank you."

"Anyo is a stupid asshole." Cass said with a growl. "That is never going to change. You are better than him. Better than me."

"No." Lissandra said weakly, staring at Cass through tear streaked eyes. "I… I am not. I am so weak."

"You think I am strong right now?" Cass asked with a small smile. "It is all I can do to stay sane cooped up in here, locked away from all my tech." Lissandra stared at him and he shook his head. "You are the only reason I am sane, Lissandra. You know that." She nodded. "Did you volunteer?" She nodded again. "Silly girl." He gave her another squeeze and winced as pain flared deep inside him. He hid it, but she had very good eyes.

"Lie down, sergeant." Lissandra said with a sigh. Cass looked at her and she shook her head. "Sergeant, don't make me watch you fall unconscious again!" She begged. "I know you are tough, but Holy Profit, sergeant!"

"What happened to you?" Cass asked as he lay down. He did not release her hand as she lay down beside him, brushing his long hair away from his neck. The tubes extended as they always did, connected to his neck for hers. He didn't look to see the others connect as well. It had creeped him out for a while, until he realized that it helped. Somehow, she filtered toxins out that his body produced. It never hurt. It was just really, really weird even for him.

"Everyone died but me." Lissandra said sadly. He gave her hand a squeeze and she relaxed a little as the filtering mechanism did what it did. "I woke up… Somewhere else. Like this. The Clergy found me there. They were upset."

"I bet." Cass said dryly enough that Lissandra chuckled a little. He looked at her and then he shook his head slowly. When he spoke again, it was not aloud and she stiffened. _D_ _o_ _not move._ _I was not sure I could trust you, but I have little choice._ _We usually lie for quite a while like this_ _while you filter the toxins that build up in my system_ _._ _I do not know what is going on, but w_ _e are_ _likely_ _both in grave danger._ He warned her. _They told you that the Commander was unavailable. That th_ _e_ _Rever_ _e_ _nd Mo_ _t_ _her was unavailable._ Lissandra nodded very slightly.

 _Yes._ Her reply was hesitant. _How can you do this?_

 _I do not know._ Cass admitted. _There is a lot I do not know._ _More than even I knew until just now._ _What I do know is this:_ _This is_ **not** _a Clergy facility. They want us to think it is._

 _But it is._ Lissandra said weakly. _You were hurt,_ _vacuum exposure and radiation_ _and-_ She broke off as Cass gave her hand a warning squeeze.

 _That was some time ago._ _What is the last thing you remember before waking here?_ Cass asked.

 _I…_ Lissandra paused and then sighed. _Anne J-45 was sick. I was helping her, but then Mitchell D-29 came. He was so angry. I…_ She paused as Cass did not react. _That_ _is the last thing I remember._ _What is wrong?_

 _That was_ _quite a while_ _time ago._ Cass replied. _Two years if I am not mistaken._ Lissandra stared at him, dumbfounded. _Do not move!_ He said savagely in her mind. _There are surveillance devices in here I cannot identify or access!_ _I had to be sure you were not involved. I cannot be totally sure, but I cannot get out on my own. I need your help and I think you re just as hurt as I am, if not more._

 _This is a Company facility._ Lissandra swallowed hard.

 _Maybe._ Cass replied. _I have seen some very weird stuff_ _recently_ _and I hope this is not connected to any of that_ _._ He lay back, eyes on the ceiling. _I do not think it is. It feels like Corpus tech, but that makes no sense._

 _I.._ Lissandra sighed and shook her head. "Sergeant, you need to sleep now." Cass looked at her and her mind was resigned. _Whatever else is going on, you are still hurt. I will help you as I can._

 _Call the Clergy. I know you can call them like this._ Cass replied as he closed his eyes, but did not let himself relax.

 _I can't._ Lissandra said weakly and Cass stared at her through slitted eyes. _I filter out the nanobots. They cannot merge me with them. They tried many times. I hoped… But I am all alone._

 _You are not alone._ Cass raised an arm up and encircled Lissandra with it. She shivered, but then relaxed a bit. _I do not know what is going on, but whatever it is, it isn't good. Don't get any ideas._ He warned as she snuggled a bit closer. _You are too young for me, girl._

 _I am so afraid._ Lissandra said weakly _. I am always afraid._

 _Hold tight to that._ Cass said firmly and she stared at him. _You think I am not afraid? Fear is a survival instinct, Lissandra. Fear of the unknown is harder to face than any known fear and neither of us know what is going on. The odds of us both being here…_ Cass slowly shook his head. _And both of us lost souls of Fortuna? This stinks._

 _You need far more healing than I can possibly give._ Lissandra said sadly. _All I can do is keep you stable. Try to keep you on an even keel._

 _That helps._ Cass replied and then he sighed. It was very hard to concentrate with a pretty girl nestled against him. _Damn. Okay._ He took a deep breath and then spoke aloud. "Lissandra? I need you to close your eyes."

"What?" Lissandra asked, incredulous. Cass just looked at her and she screwed her eyes shut tight enough that her face paled. He patted her hand and then he opened his mind in away that he had been told about once, but had never actually dreamed of doing. It did as he had hoped, the ice blue code shimmering in front of his eyes, but then it faded. He was not actually surprised. Only a complete fool surrounded by total idiots left a Special Forces soldier loose in any way.

A familiar hated voice had both of them stiffening. Cass turned his head to where a hologram appeared on the wall. Nef Anyo was smiling. Lissandra buried her face in Cass' shoulder, but Cass did not move.

"They were not sure they could reproduce it." The madman gloated. "I see the Void is with us today."

"Well, something is with you." Cass replied, trying for a dry tone. He could feel Lissandra's incredulity beside him but he kept his eyes on the holo. "You are still an idiot, but something is with you. What is that I smell? Oh." He snorted as Anyo glared at him. "I smell stupid."

"You are a tool." The madman snapped. "You will know your place."

"I do know my place and it has nothing to do with you." Cass replied, but then he stilled as something touched him. A feel that he didn't know. Did he? Yes! He _did!_ The feel was familiar and worried! He pressed Lissandra's hand with his own as he braced the madman. He was only slightly surprised when a wall opened and the walls of a Corpus facility shone outside. He was not surprised when three armed and armored goons stumped in. "Ah, a decent fight. Lissandra, disconnect, please."

"Do not damage them!" Anyo commanded as Lissandra quailed, but did as directed. Cass sat up and smiled grimly at the goons.

"You do realize that I have little to lose here, right?" Cass asked snidely as the three soldiers looked at each other and then at Anyo who sputtered. "So, I think I should tell you to shove your Void into your _interior_ Void. The one in between your _ears_."

"Stun him, you fools!" Anyo snarled.

"Oh sure. Go right ahead." Cass smiled but it held little humor. "After all, stun weapons couldn't possibly harm a badly injured human, now could they?" The smile he turned on Anyo's hologram might have turned out the Sun. "You have no idea what you just did, do you?"

"You are the key to controlling the Sentients!" Anyo snapped. "And you _will_ serve me!"

"No and no." Cass replied, his tone disinterested now as the touch on his mind solidified and the feeling now was rage! "You had better hope you are not in this facility."

"Are you actually threatening me?" Anyo demanded. "You? A debtor descendant? Whichever of the fools you were related to, I will have that out of you and many other things."

"Will you now?" Again, Cass was disinterested as the three soldiers stepped forward, Prova stun batons in hand. "Guys, you _really_ might want to run now."

Whatever Anyo was going to say was cut off as a woman who seemed to be made of solid silver metal appeared standing beside the bed.

Marlena was _pissed_.

"You know that won't help." The being once known as Marlena Smith said coldly as all three soldiers took a step back and Anyo started to sputter again. "And here I thought I had to be angry at _you_ , Cass. I see it wasn't _your_ stupidity this time."

"The day is young." Cass said quietly as three more Sentients appeared beside Marlena. All seemed angry. None paid him or Lissandra any mind at all. "We need intel."

"That we do." Marlena agreed as her form morphed into a silvery green Sentient shape. Lissandra gasped in fear and shock, but Cass just held her. She turned to Anyo's hologram, but it faded, leaving the thee hapless Corpus to face four angry Sentients. "Don't go anywhere."

"We need intel." Cass tried to sit up but his strength faded and he slumped. "I… Please? Not for me. For this poor girl." Marlena turned her form to look at him and then at Lissandra who did not move. The Sentient heaved an all too human sigh.

"As you wish, Cyberlancer."


	2. Chapter 2

**My ally, my enemy**

Everything stopped as a Nyx Prime warframe stepped into view in the corridor. She was shaking her head as she looked at the Corpus and then at the Sentients. She had both sword and pistol on her warframe, but had none in hand.

"Get away from him." The Tenno said quietly. She wasn't hostile. Why? Caught between two unspeakable terrors, the Corpus goons seemed to be frozen.

"Or what?" Marlena demanded. "You kill him? Kill us? It is what you do, no?"

"No. Get away from him before the energy he has gathered lashes out and hurts you, Marlena." The Tenno replied! Calm, assured. Not angry at all! Underneath though… Was she worried? For _Marlena?_ "He does not know how to control it!"

Cass stared at his hands and yes, they were glowing ice blue! The glow was getting brighter no matter how he tried to stop it. All three other Sentients floated away from him as Marlena spun to scrutinize him. The three Corpus bolted and no one paid them any mind.

"NO!" Cass shouted, trying to push Lissandra away with his forearms as the energy flared. "Lissandra! Get away from me!" He pleaded, but she clung to him in terror. She was so stiff he was afraid to touch her for fear of hurting her. "Lissandra!" Be begged as the girl cried, holding on to him for dear life.

"Strike me if you will, but you will only only destroy this warframe and you _will_ doom him and her." The Tenno said quietly as she strode forward, her hands coming down to take Cass' glowing ones. Marlena did not move. "He may be guilty of whatever, but is she?"

"What do Tenno care for innocence or guilt?" Marlena asked softly as the other three Sentients zipped from the room. Screams of horror and the sound of energy fire came from outside, but the sound moved away.

"Normally, none." The Tenno replied as she did something and the power faded from Cass' hands. He felt bereft and the Nyx nodded as he stared at her, eyes huge. "Soldier? I can slow it. I cannot stop it. Maybe you can learn control in time to save yourself. Maybe not. Nothing I know of can stop such a transformation once it has begun. That idiot Nef Anyo has a lot to answer for." The Tenno shook her head as she stepped back to the wall where she waited. "I am Nyx." She said by way of introduction. Cass felt his guts clench. Few Tenno in his experience spoke in the field at all. The few who did were almost to a being incredibly powerful and scary even for their kind. But _Nyx?_ That was the type of warframe, was it not? She shook her head as Marlena hissed. "You likely will not know what that means, soldier, but Marlena will. I am the First."

"And you are here… why?" Marlena was not relaxed at all, despite the Tenno apparently not being hostile as odd as that was.

"The Clergy lost Lissandra here and then Sergeant Cass vanished." Nyx replied. "Their normal methods of investigation proved fruitless. The Reverend Mother contacted Janet who contacted me. I was in the area and I owe her." Everyone looked at the Tenno who shrugged. "Is such not allowed?"

"You are not alive." Marlena said very slowly.

"Neither are you." Nyx was one small step short of amused. "My business is my own, but I personally have no quarrel with you or your kind unless you pick a fight with me. I do not suggest that."

" _WHAT IS GOING ON?_ " Lissandra screamed in Cass arms. Both of the very scary not human females turned to look at her and she quailed but Cass pulled her close and held her as she shuddered.

"Hell just froze over." Nyx replied, truly amused now.

"You are frightening her." Cass said with a growl as he turned Lissandra so she was looking only at him. "Lissandra, calm down. It is okay. Be calm." He reassured her. "I don't think these want us dead." Lissandra started to cry and he held her. "Can you get Lissandra out of here?" He asked Marlena. "I don't know what I am now, if I am a friend or an enemy, but I cannot fight you and both of us know it. She certainly has no chance against you and you know that too."

"You aided me before. It was in your interest to do so, but you went above and beyond simple self interest." Marlena said slowly. She morphed back into a silver female human looking form. Her skin shimmered and then looked like human flesh. She stepped to the bed and laid a hand on Lissandra's arm. "Girl. Lissandra. Have no fear. We will not harm you. You are in no danger at the moment. You have been rescued. Easy, girl. Easy."

Lissandra gasped and then she relaxed. Was the Sentient doing something? Her breathing eased and she was singing softly under her breath. The same song that she and Cass had sung earlier. Marlena smiled, patted her arm and retreated a step. Cass rocked Lissandra who was still crying, but softly.

"I assume your fighters are clearing the place?" Nyx inquired. Marlena nodded. "I didn't bring anyone with me. I need to do what I need to do alone."

"You didn't do this." Marlena nodded to Cass and Lissandra. Nyx shook her head. "Who did?"

"I do not know." Nyx's amusement had faded. "I have suspicions, but no facts and I would rather not act until and unless I have facts."

"And when you do act?" Marlena inquired and Nyx laid a hand on the hilt of her sword. She still wasn't hostile.

"If the facts are what I fear? Then I do my job." Nyx replied evenly as she dropped her hand from her sword. There was no anger in her words, and no _mercy_ either. Marlena looked at the Tenno and then nodded slowly.

"We need to get these two to safety." Marlena stepped back and Nyx did as well. Both were clearly giving Lissandra time to calm down which she took. Cass rocked the sobbing girl in his arms and she slowly stopped crying. "Do you know who did this?"

"No." Nyx growled, but it wasn't frightening. More comforting as odd as that sounded. "Janet's visions of the possibilities were unclear. Everything she said was 'sort of', 'maybe' and 'might be'. That is Oracles for you." She groaned and Marlena shared it. "That said? I did not expect _this_." She nodded to Cass who stared at her. "Cyberlancer."

"I am not a Cyberlancer." Cass said weakly. Marlena looked at him and was that _pity_ on her face? No, it couldn't be!

"What is a Cyberlancer?" Lissandra asked, her eyes slowly closing as her adrenaline faded and exhaustion took over.

"A magician." Cass replied and then sighed as she fell asleep in his arms. "Did you need to do that?" He asked Marlena very quietly as he eased Lissandra to the bed.

"Maybe not, but she is scared. Her fear will hurt her. She has cause." Marlena replied. "Her mind has been tampered with. It is bad enough that I can tell such with a simple touch. I bet Nyx can do far more."

"Like you would trust me to do-" Nyx froze as Marlena did. When the First spoke again, it was clipped. "I felt that. You?"

"One of my fighters was just disabled by what looked an awful lot like a Tenno Glaive." Marlena said as energy shimmered around her. "You said you came alone." Her tone was not quite accusing.

"I _did_ come alone." Nyx said as she spun to the open wall, her hand on her sword hilt. Then she sighed. "Damn, I hoped I was wrong. Can you get them out of here? He will be coming and neither of us can detect him if he goes full stealth. I may be able to hold him off, I may not." She might have been discussing the weather now as she moved to stand between the open wall and the trio of mismatched beings. "I think we are about to find out."

There was other no warning. One moment, Cass was staring at Nyx, the next something came whirling into the room, arcing as if guided. It spun towards Marlena, but Nyx was just as fast as it was. The Tenno's curved blade flashed and metal clanged on metal. Cass went still as the Tenno Glaive made of sickly looking green metal flew back out the way if had come and a dark haired man stepped into view in the hall, catching it in mid-spin as if such were utterly natural. He wore armor that was almost a warframe, but not quite. It was thinner for one thing and looked far older. His face was almost as expressive as a warframe's faceplate might have been. Nyx moved to stand between the newcomer and Marlena who recoiled.

" _Hayden Tenno._ " Marlena breathed, horrified. "Oh no… No..."

" _Get them out of here!_ " Nyx shouted as Hayden charged her without a word. She screamed in agony as his triple blades licked out and found a weak spot in her warframe, but she was not idle. She lashed out as well, her own blade cutting deep into his biological armor. He made no sound, simply attacked again, trying to force Nyx away from those she was protecting, but she did not move. She planted her feet, stood her ground and nothing the elder Tenno did moved her. It clearly cost her, but just as clearly she would die before she let him past.

Marlena gathered both of the humans up. Cass didn't struggle. He watched as the two Tenno fought in silence. Neither was asking or giving quarter and inhuman blood flew from wounds that would have killed any human instantly.

"Don't move." Marlena warned Cass. "Hold tight to Lissandra." She gasped as something hit her from behind but silver energy flared around her. "Hold… Hold tight..." She said weakly. Then she cursed as the energy faded.

"You are going nowhere with them." Hayden Tenno spoke for the first time. His voice was calm, cool and utterly devoid of emotion as he bound the other warframe's blade with a twist and then slammed Nyx to the ground. She did a handspring to come back to a ready position and he shook his head. "Nyx, don't be stupid. You don't have a chance against me."

"Who was it who taught me to do my best no matter the odds?" Nyx asked as she moved to block him again, her blade steady despite rivers of ghastly looking fluid falling from tears in her warframe. "Then again, you _also_ told me to trust my heart and my heart is broken. Did you mean _any_ of it? The Code?" She asked, hurt in her tone. "Or was it always about finding a way to power?"

"It was never about power, Nyx." Hayden said as he moved again, trying to get around Nyx, but she was having none of it. "I wanted what was best for the people who looked to me. I always did and I still do."

"And who, pray tell, wiped our memories of your kids?" Nyx inquired coldly and both of the other listeners stilled at the rage in her tone. "Who will you blame _this_ time, I wonder. I checked my memories and _I_ did not tamper with mine. Are you going to blame Anatoly? Trinity? _Mag? Nikis?_ " She demanded angrily.

"No." Hayden replied. "I did that." Nyx did not react and Hayden sighed deeply. "Nyx, it was for the best. If Taliana had just accepted it-" He broke off as Nyx snarled at him, a sound more akin to wounded badger than anything that might have once been human.

" _IF SHE HAD JUST ACCEPTED YOU LYING TO HER!_ " Nyx threw the words and then she threw her _sword_ at Hayden who dodged it. The First Tenno froze as a black metal ax appeared in her hands. She didn't draw it, it was not there and then it _was!_ It was glowing black! Black wasn't supposed glow, was it? She spat an expletive in a language that Cass did not know. From her tension, Marlena _did_ know the language and so did Hayden from his wariness. When she advanced again, ax at the ready, Hayden backpedaled.

"Nyx, don't do this!" Hayden said sharply as Nyx closed with him. From her posture, it was clear that if she go a clean swing, she would cut him in half and then, whatever the ax would do probably wouldn't tickle. Tenno or no, she was going to kill him if she could.

"What was it you called me? The Core of the Code?" Nyx sounded sad now instead of angry. "All lies."

"It wasn't a lie, Nyx!" Hayden Said as she swung and he dodged the swing, but she altered the swing and he twisted just in time, barely avoiding having his arm hit by the ax. From how mightily she was swinging it? It would have taken his arm off, warframe or no. Was it glowing brighter now? "Nyx! Don't do this! Don't make _me_ do this!"

"I wish I could kick you in the balls like Lynn did." Nyx replied and Hayden stiffened only to jump back again. Even with the dodge, the ax missed his neck by maybe four centimeters. She was really trying to kill him. "You deserve so much more than a clean death, but I don't have time-" She gasped as something hit her from the side and another warframe appeared out of nowhere to stand nearby. The Trinity warframe was shaking her head as Nyx backpedaled herself, pulling a throwing blade out of her warframe. "Hello Alicia. I wonder how _Tiana_ feels about this."

Nyx was over-matched as the Trinity moved to stand by Hayden. Neither pressed their advantage. Odd. they seemed wary instead of confident. Then again, Nyx warframes had powers of the mind, so they were damn scary. The First Nyx? Furious? Ouch.

"Tiana won't ever know." Alicia said quietly. "Nyx, stand down. I know this hurts. It hurts all of us. I know this looks bad but we can ex-" She broke off with a gulp as Nyx flashed green energy and then the Trinity clad warframe screamed as similar green energy flared around _her_.

" _NYX! NO!_ " Hayden shouted as Alicia screamed loud and long. " _Don't!_ "

"Yeah, I am s _ur_ e you can explain, but _first_ you are going to sit in the corner and rethink your life while the adults have a discussion, you bad little girl." Nyx snapped as Alicia screamed again. Hayden took a step forward, but Nyx shook her head. "Our minds are linked. By all means, strike me down, Hayden Tenno and kill _her too!_ "

The Trinity staggered to a corner and indeed, she sat, crossing her legs. Now she was just crying and her sobs sounded childlike.

"Nyx, I know you are angry, but geez!" Hayden's face was pale. "How is _that_ ethical?"

"Two to one odds when I am rescuing hostages from a known murderer and traitor to the Tenno." Nyx replied coldly. "How is it not ethical? I could have fried her mind instead. Left her energy mindless. You know I could do it to you right now. _Should_ I?"

Hayden seemed at a loss for words, and to Cass' astonishment, _Marlena_ spoke up.

"Nyx, no." Marlena said quietly. "Don't. Don't destroy who and what you are for him. He is not worth what it would do to you." Nyx did not turn to face the Sentient, but her posture spoke of incredulity. "I know I am supposed to be the monster here, but I did enough of that even if I don't remember it. Don't let him win, Nyx. Don't become what you fight."

"You are too late, Marlena." Nyx said softly. "I did. I tried to do the right thing no matter the situation. I thought being able to read minds would give me the ability to make right choices, but I learned otherwise. Sometimes there is no right answer."

She set herself as Hayden drew back his hand to throw the Glaive. She readied her ax to block, but when it flew, however, it didn't fly at _her_. It flew _over_ her to fly at Marlena. Nyx was way out of reach when it bounced off the ceiling and hit Marlena who staggered. Cass could feel the impact through the metal body and it did something else that he felt as pain, but it vanished as quickly as he felt it.

"You son of a bitch!" Nyx screamed and swung, but Hayden vanished from sight before the ax could hit him, his Glaive vanishing as well. She did not relent, swinging with apparent abandon, but it was clear that she was swinging with purpose when she connected to something that couldn't be seen and Hayden flew from her to hit the wall and roll to his feet, his form shimmering with energy. She had negated his cloak somehow. "Die, you _prick!_ "

She swung at him again and then screamed as the Glaive appeared from nowhere to slam fully into her back. It flared with black energy and she screamed again as green and black energy warred around her.

"Nyx!" Hayden begged. "Stop fighting it! It will send you back in! Nothing more! Nyx! If you fight, it will _destroy_ you!"

"Will it? I taught you how to do that. You learned new tricks and so did I. Oh, and by the way? My name is _Galina_." The warframe said clearly and then she was sitting in midair as green energy coruscated around her. Hayden turned and ran as energy flared all around her. She turned her head to scrutinize Marlena who stared at her with Cass. When she spoke, it was a bit calmer, but resigned. "Everything in the room will go. Alicia won't be very coherent. Buffer the humans if you can. This transit won't be gentle. I am sending you to someone who may be able to help. I can't. I cannot send you home. I don't have the power."

"Nyx! Um... Galina!" Marlena said weakly. "No! Save yourself!"

"I died a long time ago, Marlena." Galina sounded tired and sad now. "This? This is just a pale copy of the being I was. It is high time I paid for my crimes."

If Marlena replied, the reply was lost in the sudden explosion of green energy that tore time and space asunder. Was it Cass' imagination that he heard the bearer of the first Nyx warframe scream in agony beyond any human comprehension as he was yanked away? He hoped so because her scream cut off with dreadful finality.


	3. Chapter 3

**Aid**

Cass had hoped for the mercy of blacking out. He didn't.

He felt everything. Senses he had no words for reported things that made no sense _and_ complete sense. He was drowning in data that he could barely understand, so he did as he always did when such happened. He ignored what he could not immediately comprehend and focused on what he could. He felt Lissandra in his arms and Marlena holding them both as they fell, flew, whatever through green energy that flared across his vision even with his eyes tightly shut. The Sentient felt wrong. More wrong that she should. Or...something.

He wasn't sure how he knew, but somehow, Cass knew that the energy that made Marlena who and what she was was unraveling. It wasn't pain like he knew all to well as a Special Forces soldier, but it was pain nonetheless. He could feel her agony, but when he tried to speak to her, he couldn't. He couldn't move or do anything.

Then they landed.

Marlena cushioned the two she was holding somehow and the impact was less than it should have been, but it still jarred a grunt out of Cass.

"That was _fun_." Cass groused. "Marlena?"

"I… I can't..." Marlena's arms released him and Cass eased Lissandra's limp form to whatever surface lay underneath them. "If you can, tell Mike 'I am sorry'."

"What have you _possibly_ got to be sorry for?" Rage gave the exhausted soldier new energy and Cass opened his eyes to find Marlena lying beside him, her energy visibly dimming.

"Far more than you will ever know." The silver metal woman laid her head on the floor as sobs came form nearby. Alicia was still crying. "I cannot ever make what I did right. Too many died because of what I did. But… I had to try to make things right."

"Why?" A new voice spoke up. A male voice that seemed to come from the darkness that surrounded them. It was calm, serene almost. "Why must you try, young Sentient?"

Cass tried to stiffen as light brightened around the trio and they were lying on an oddly painted floor. A male form uncoiled form an odd sitting posture near a wall that was also oddly painted. It wasn't disturbing. Far from it. Cass did not know what was depicted on the wall, but it was oddly soothing, whatever it was. Even when he stepped into the light, the form was not clear. He was distinctly human in a long cloak, but wait! Was that a green _mask_ the being was wearing? Some kind of caricature of a human face with a wide white smile?

"Who are you?" Cass and Marlena both chorused. Both stiffened as the other chuckled.

"What?" Cass demanded, fear rising.

"Who is but the form, following the function of what and what I am is a being in a mask." The other replied, amused. Cass started to retort angrily, but Marlena _laughed!_

"You did _not_ just say that." Marlena chuckled weakly. "Don't tell me you watched that movie!" Cass stared at her and then at the odd being who shrugged.

"Ah, caught! I have always wanted to say that almost as much as 'No one of consequence'. No one ever asked right until now." The other snickered and then bowed deeply to them. "My horrible sense of humor aside, my name I must withhold. I do not know you and trouble follows when my name is uttered around strangers. If you must call me something, you may call me Ali. That is not my name, but it will serve." He knelt down beside them, his hands gentle as he eased Cass into a more comfortable position. He laid Lissandra out straight and then turned to Marlena who was eyeing him. "You did not answer my question, young Sentient."

"I am not who I was." Marlena said quietly. "I know that, but I cannot help but feel guilty about what the being I was did to so many. She hurt many, killed many and she enjoyed it. 'I' enjoyed it. That was wrong. I have..." She corrected herself grimly. "... _had_ to try and make it right."

"Sentients destroyed much of Orokin." The being who called himself Ali had a frown in his tone that did not show through the mask. "The Orokin earned much hate and much sorrow, but the Sentients did just as much evil, if not more. None but them will ever know how many humans perished or were enslaved in the Old War."

"Enthralled, yes." Marlena replied, her tone listless now. "I was changed into this against my will, but I found a better way. I had hoped to make at least a little of what I messed up right, but it is not to be."

"Your energy is fading. Being devoured by some kind of energy parasite." Ali agreed. "I cannot help you."

"I know." Marlena replied. "I have time, but not a lot."

"I didn't think Sentients could die." Cass all but begged.

"This form will reanimate eventually if it absorbs enough energy from its surroundings." Marlena said softly. "But the memories that make me who I am are part of the energy and they will fade. Who I am will cease to be. I had hoped to have more time. Funny. I thought myself all but immortal, but he killed me just as surely as he killed Nyx."

"Nyx? She was already dead and-" Ali stiffened and then he moaned. "Oh, no. No. That is what woke me! She… No!" Was he about to cry?

"You knew Nyx?" Marlena asked, her tone sad. "She was scary, but she was kind."

"Yes." Ali put a hand to his face and nodded. He muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'Sallah'. "A kinder and scarier being, I do not think I will ever meet. She did not kill me when she had the chance. To this day, I do not know if it was mercy or malice that led her to spare me." He took a deep breath. "Who did this?" He paused. "Wait… If she sent you _here_ … Oh no." He moaned again. "No. Not _Hayden!_ "

"I don't think he meant to. He seemed just as shocked as you are." Marlena offered as Ali knelt and bowed to the wall three times, ritually. When he rose from his last bow he looked to where Alicia lay, still crying softly.

"And this one?" Ali's voice turned hard as he rose to his feet. He held no weapon, but somehow, Cass knew that death lurked very close at hand. Tenno or no, Alicia's life hung in the balance and she had no way to defend herself. " From the look of her, she tried to stop Nyx. Stress 'tried'. Was she part of what destroyed Nyx?"

"I don't know." Marlena admitted. "She seemed to be with Hayden Tenno, but she..." Marlena sighed helplessly. "Nyx lost her temper."

"Oh dear." Ali knelt beside Alicia and shook his head. He touched her shaking head and she stilled, seeming to fall asleep. "I see. Even Hayden Tenno stepped carefully around Nyx when she got angry. With good reason. We learned. _Everyone_ learned." Cass stared at the odd being. He had _known_ both? That was not second hand knowledge. That was personal experience talking. From what he said and how he said it? Said experience had not been pleasant. "Hayden always did think with his Glaive far too often." Ali said sourly. "But this..." He looked at the trio and then at Alicia. He slumped a bit. "Tenno fighting Tenno. Again. This is going to be a mess and no mistake."

"Nyx was trying to help us." Cass said sadly. "She sent us here. From your words, you cannot help Marlena. Can you help Lissandra?"

Ali rose from Alicia's side to stride to where Lissandra lay. Cass tried to remain still as the odd being knelt beside her. His hands were gentle as he checked her vitals and something more that Cass could almost sense.

"She feels… strange." Ali said slowly. "Odd, but not disturbing." He looked at Marlena who nodded.

"She was tampered with, her mind and body both have been altered. Not by me or my kind. It is not Tenno power, either. I know those feelings." The stricken Sentient said quietly. "I do not know how or why she was brainwashed, but she was."

"Something to do with me, probably." Cass said with a growl. "Damn that Anyo. Damn him to hell."

"Watch your mouth, human." Ali said sternly and Cass stared at him, closing his mouth with a click. "Blasphemy will not be tolerated here. I won't kill you, but you might prefer that." He moved to check Cass who remained still.

"Careful. He is showing the abilities of a Cyberlancer with no training." Marlena warned as Ali reached for Cass. Ali froze and then nodded slowly. "It was done to him, not by his will. Nyx slowed the change. She said she could not stop it."

"For all of her faults, Nyx did know her limits." Ali laid a hand on Cass's forehead and soothing warmth swept through the soldier. Cass sighed as pain he had barely registered faded. Ali had a sad, gentle smile in his voice when he spoke again. "She did well. You are a mess, human. Your physical wounds are the least of it."

"Are you a healer?" Marlena all but begged. "They need healing."

"Me? No. Not by trade, but when you get to be my age, you pick up tricks." Ali replied, noncommittal. "This is beyond my paltry skill. I can get you somewhere that they can tend you. That said, if _Hayden Tenno_ is after you… Then anywhere you go will be dangerous to both you and those helping you." Again, that was _personal experience_. Cass opened his mouth and then shut it. He probably didn't want to know. "And if Nyx is truly gone, then Nikis will likely get involved and be very angry." He shuddered. "Not something I ever wanted to see again."

"Smart man." Cass would have said more, but Lissandra moaned and Cass turned to see her open her eyes, clearly confused by this change in location. "Lissandra? You are okay. You are safe for the moment."

"What is going on?" Lissandra asked, staring from Cass to Marlena. She cringed as she saw the man in the mask but he shook his head.

"You are in no danger from me, human Lissandra. You may call me Ali and I have done what I can for you." Ali said kindly and Lissandra relaxed a little. "How do you feel?"

"Odd." Lissandra said softly. "I feel..." She turned to look at Marlena and gasped. "You are hurting!"

"I am dying." Marlena corrected her grimly. "Perhaps this being can help you where I could not." She smiled a little forlornly. "I had so many hopes, but I did help Cass, so that is a good thing."

"No." Lissandra said weakly. "You… You can't _die!_ You are a Sentient!"

"Everything dies, child."Ali said sadly. "Tenno and Sentients are no different. They may cheat it, but in the end, oblivion will come for all of us." He paused as Lissandra surged to a sitting position. "Do not push yourself too-"

Whatever else he was going to say was cut off as Lissandra reached for Marlena and the odd tubes that were housed in her body extended. He was clearly staring at her as the tubes connected to Marlena as the girl had normally connected to Cass. For her part, Marlena tried to retreat, but she couldn't move.

"No!" Marlena begged as Lissandra lay down next to her. "Don't!"

"Not for me." Lissandra said very quietly. "No one else dies for me." Cass stared at her and then sat up, struggling to reach her as her face twisted into a grimace. "Ick." She swallowed hard as Marlena gasped and Ali juts stood as if shocked. "Those are _foul!_ "

"What are you doing?" Marlena said softly, still trying to move, but unable to. "I feel weird."

"I am filtering your energy." Lissandra said with a grunt of effort. "It is… different, but I can sense the wrong in it, so I can filter the bad out."

"That is not possible." Ali said very slowly as Marlena gasped and then relaxed. "Sentient?"

"She… It… She pulled it out. The thing that was killing me. It was wrongness in my energy and I couldn't touch it. She pulled it _out!_ " Marlena stared at Lissandra in awe that turned to horror as the girl's eyes rolled up into her head and she fell over. The tubed retracted when she lost consciousness. " _Lissandra!_ "

Cass was in reach and caught Lissandra before she hit the floor. He laid her down and checked her pulse. He had a moment of absolute terror until it fluttered under his fingers.

"Alive." Cass said, stunned. "Thank God! She is alive. That... She..."

"I do not sense the energy that was poisoning the Sentient anymore. That is not possible." Ali said very softly. "She 'filtered' it?" He inquired carefully.

"That is what she said she did for me every time I woke up in what I came to realize was a cell." Cass slumped and shook his head. "She was hurt. I could tell that just by looking at her, but she didn't care about herself. All she cared about was that 'I' was hurt and she wanted to help. We didn't know each other until then. Now?" He shrugged. "That had to be planned, that we would feel for each other."

"Likely. Psychological manipulation of prisoners is a time honored evil tradition." Ali agreed, not moving as Marlena sat up slowly and carefully. She slid across the floor to Cass and Lissandra, looking a question at Cass who shrugged.

"I don't know what to do." Cass said weakly. "I was trained in battlefield medicine, but this is not battlefield medicine."

"No, it most definitely is not. As Ali says, what she just did is not possible but she _did_ it." Marlena said with a sigh. "She saved my life. I..." She started to _cry_. "I didn't want to die, but I was _ready!_ " Ali stepped up and laid his hand on Marlena's shoulder. She covered it with her own.

"Take this gift that was given to you, young Sentient." Ali said heavily. "All such gifts come with a cost. I fear she will pay for what she did."

"Not if I can help it." Marlena growled.

"You may not be able to." Ali warned. "I wasn't when I tried to repay a similar debt." He looked away.

"We need to get these somewhere safe." Marlena said weakly as she laid a hand on Lissandra and then relaxed a bit. "Her vitals are strong. I would think that she should be okay with some rest, but… I don't know what she did or how. So we need to get her to proper medical care."

"The portal Nyx used to transport you will be tracked." Ali said heavily. "This place was supposed to define the word 'inaccessible', but that was just proven false." He took a deep breath. "Can your people help?" He asked Marlena who thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"Hunhow would just destroy us all. The others? They are coming back to the system, but had to slow and turn before accelerating again. We were almost a light year away." Marlena replied. "Mother could likely help, but she has to stay with Adiina. The poor dear is very fragile still. She frightens easily and since she is an armed starship, we do not want her frightened. Such would not end well."

"No." Ali shook his head. "I shouldn't be surprised that I am out of touch. Likely out of date as well. I sleep here until and unless Tenno come to talk. The last one was Karl and that was some time ago." He sighed. "If Hayden Tenno is hunting you, then hiding will not work. Nor will running. You will never see him coming." Again, that was experience!

"If we cannot hide and we cannot run, then what can we do? Die?" Cass demanded, trying for calm as Lissandra whimpered in her sleep. He stroked her short hair and she subsided. "Fighting him won't work!"

"There are many ways to fight." Ali's tone was dry now. "Contrary to popular belief, not all involve physical violence." He turned to Marlena. "Can you hold silence? I _may_ be able to talk to someone who can help, but she will not react well to _me_. Let alone to _you_."

"I am sort of stuck here, seeing as how I have no idea where 'here' is." Marlena sighed deeply and then nodded. "I would hope that whoever you talk to can protect these, but I do owe Lissandra a life." She warned. "We all owe her. I am a nurturer and the death of such is a grievous blow to my people."

"Fair enough." Ali turned to the wall and spoke aloud in a language that Cass did not know. Marlena shrugged when he looked at her.

"You." The irate female voice preceded a small holographic screen appearing on the wall. It looked archaic, that screen, but it still functioned. The Saryn Prime warframe was all but bristling with rage. Cass stiffened as he recognized her from Special Forces briefings. Rachel! The Tenno who led the First! "What do _you_ want?"

"I felt Nyx pass beyond the database." Ali said quietly. "You know what that means."

"You try any of your tricks and I will obliterate your ass." Rachel snapped, only to pause as Ali sighed. "What?"

"Language, my dear." Ali protested mildly. "You have been hanging around Nikis too long."

"Gah!" Rachel snarled but then visibly forced herself to relax. "This is not a good time."

"Considering that _Hayden Tenno_ just destroyed Nyx?" Ali asked and his mild tone hardened. "No, it is not a good time."

" _What_ did you-?" Rachel broke off and when she spoke again, it was slow and careful. "That seems implausible. You better have proof of such a wild claim."

"I have talked with beings who were there." Ali replied, not moving. "I do not know the specifics, but I _do_ owe Nyx." The last few words were quiet, but the intensity level went through the roof. Rachel stared at him and then she nodded, manifestly against her will. "If he _was_ involved… Then this is going to get very bad, very fast."

"And you know all about bad." Rachel said sourly.

"Nyx didn't kill me." Ali might have been carved from ice now. "Such would have been far more merciful. That is beside the point. I have reason to believe that humans were harmed by Hayden Tenno." Rachel hissed at that. "I do not know how or why, but Nyx tried to rescue them and fell doing so. If you were involved in such, we will become enemies." Was he _threatening_ Rachel? He was insane!

"I have been trying to make sense of things that happened recently." Rachel said through clearly gritted teeth. "My focus is as it has always been. The Virus and its outbreaks. No more, no less."

"Except when you sat on your rear for millennia." Ali retorted. "How is _that_ following your precious 'Way'?" He inquired coldly.

"The Infested were dormant until the idiot Grineer woke them." Rachel said slowly but then she bowed her head. "For what is worth? I agree it was wrong, but we were angry."

"So am I." Ali admitted. "You had every right to anger after what happened to Richard." Ali consoled her. "I am not your enemy, Rachel. I do not _want_ to be. Nyx was my jailer, but more than that?

It took a while, but she wore me down until she was my _friend_."


	4. Chapter 4

**Civil**

To say the atmosphere in the portal chamber of the Tenno Citadel was 'tense' would be technically true. The same way that describing the _Sun_ as a _light source_ was. Truth, but the magnitude!

Marlena held Lissandra close as half a dozen warframes aimed weapons at her. Cass was in some kind of Tenno hovering chair thing that Ali had provided, and his face was a mix of fear and humiliation as no one paid him any mind at all! They all focused on Marlena who held Lissandra and Ali who was carrying Alicia in her warframe with no discernible effort.

"If the human female wakes up with weapons aimed at her, she will not react well." Ali's mild voice was biting.

"Set her down." Rachel commanded. Marlena looked at Ali who shrugged. "Now!"

"Do what she says." Ali allowed. "She may be rude, but this is her home." Again, quiet, calm and _biting_. "She might be able to do more than we can. If she _bothers."_

"Shut up and get lost, asshole!" Nikis strode into the room, his pistols in hand. The tension had only seemed sky high. Now it was astronomical. "You ain't welcome here."

"And leave them with _you?_ I think not." Ali's tone had frosted, but he did not move as Nikis approached. "If you threaten any of these victims of Tenno hostility, I will take your pistols away and beat you with them."

At that, _everyone_ stilled, human, Tenno and Sentient alike! Was he _nuts?_ Saying that to _Nikis_ of all people? Nikis just grunted and then nodded to Marlena. He holstered his pistols!

"Set her down." Nikis' tone was odd now. Not quite as rude, not quite as demanding. Still angry. "Let me see her."

Marlena very slowly and carefully lowered Lissandra to the ground where she lay the human out straight. She released the girl and took a step back, only to find Ali had moved to stand close by. Somehow, he had sent Alicia down and moved to stand right beside Marlena in a matter of seconds.

"Never run from a predator, girl." Ali was still mild, but now his voice was moderate instead of biting. "Even if they are not angry or hungry, they cannot change their nature any more than you can. They will chase you down and hurt or kill you if they see you running. Nikis is probably the single most dangerous predator you will ever meet. Stand your ground or he will walk all over you. He can't help himself."

"Shut up." Nikis bristled as he knelt down by Lissandra and orange energy fell from his gauntlet to cover her. Cass stifled a protest. He knew it would do no good. Then Nikis cursed. "Will wonders never cease? He ain't lying about her. Someone monkeyed with her mind before and then again recently using Tenno techniques."

"I have no reason to lie and many reasons not to." Ali said into the sudden silence that fell. "I want to see another Tenno on Tenno struggle about as much as you do, Nikis. Nyx saw to that." He bowed his head. "I did not thank her for it, but she did what she did. I owe her for opening my eyes." No one moved as Nikis rose and Ali moved to stand face to face with the ancient Tenno boogeyman. "The only reason I left my prison is that these humans that Nyx used her final energy to dump in my lap are doomed without help. The Sentient may or may not survive Hayden's wrath. _These_ don't have a chance and you know it."

"What happened?" Nikis sounded tired for a moment and then he shook his head. When he spoke again, it as his usual tone of insolence mixed with anger. "Or are ya gonna be holier than thou again, 'Ali'?" The name was heavily ironic.

"Don't even try." Ali retorted. "I have never claimed to be holy. _You_ of all people know how easy it is to get Tenno to see sense on occasion. Yes, I get arrogant on occasion. So do you."

" _I_ never blew up women and kids." Nikis said in a very soft voice. Cass stilled. What the-

"No, you just _shot_ them whether they were armed or not." Ali retorted. "Scaring and killing people is what you do. And you dared call _me_ a terrorist. Hypocrite much?"

Cass' eyes bulged as Nikis lashed out to slap the other. Ali caught his hand, twisted in a sinuous motion and took the ancient Nekros to the floor! Who the hell was this guy? Ali bounded to his feet and Nikis did the same, his hands on his pistols.

"Go ahead, shoot." Ali had a feral smile in his voice now. "Prove to everyone how uncivilized you are. You know you won't hit me and if you aim at them?" He nodded to Cass, Lissandra and Marlena. "I will hurt you." Not a threat, a promise. "I shouldn't enjoy such now, but I know I would."

"Still smarting over the graffiti?" Nikis asked slowly.

"The next time someone takes a knife to one of your personal possessions, I am sure you will be the soul of tact." Ali replied. "That was an original Picasso you defaced, not a copy."

"An original?" Nikis inquired. Ali nodded. "Pity. I would have taken a dump on it if I had known."

"Yeah, you likely would have." Ali agreed. "After all, that is what chimpanzees and the like minded _do_. Throw feces."

Cass was somewhere beyond horror as Nikis and Ali glared at each other.

"Children!" A new voice sounded as a white garbed human form appeared nearby. Her face was half covered by a white veil. Oracle Janet's mouth was set in a grim line and she was actually tapping her foot. Cass did not take that as a good sign. When she spoke again, it was if to very small children "If you two _idiots_ are done with the 'mine is bigger than yours', we have larger issues than either of you thinking the other is larger." She turned to Cass as both males sputtered at her. She ignored both of them, much to Rachel's apparent amusement. When she spoke again, it was sad. "I am sorry, Sergeant. I was distracted. I didn't see what was happening. I have no other excuse."

"You are not a deity." Cass waved her apology aside. "Did you see?"

"Yes." Janet slumped a bit. "Once I knew where to look, I tracked Marlena and I saw it all. I don't know if she gone for good or not, but..." She paused and when she spoke again, it was to all present. "... _Galina_ did take a big chunk out of him."

"Galina?" Nikis said weakly. "Just like..." He swallowed. "Lynn?" Janet nodded and Ali bowed his head. "Ah shit."

"Nikis! Language!" Ali and Janet both chorused. They stares at one another and the Oracle smiled a tiny, sad little smile as Nikis shook his head.

"Hayden did this." Nikis said softly, then he looked to where Alicia lay. "And this one?"

"I haven't been focused on her, but you know how Liriel feels about her." Janet said softly and Nikis nodded. "She angered Galina and Galina was angry already." Everyone in the room shuddered at that. "Alicia isn't gone, just… Regressed a bit. You know what _could_ have happened."

"Yeah." Nikis groaned. "I seen what she left behind a time or two when she lost her temper before. He didn't come back. I been looking for him, but he hides like nobody's business. If Hayden don't want to be seen..." The ancient Nekros trailed off helplessly.

"He _isn't_." Ali finished the thought. He shook his head as Nikis looked at him. "I owe Nyx, _Galina_." He corrected himself grimly. "Truce?" He asked Nikis. "My only interest is the humans, the girl needs help." He started to say more, but Janet interrupted him.

"Say no more!" The Oracle commanded and everyone stared at her. "That goes for all of you!" She said to Cass and Marlena. "I know what happened. I know _why_ and believe me when I say the rest of you do _not want to know_. If you press this, things will get very bad. As bad as what Hayden did was, it was actually the _lesser_ evil. Anyo figured out what she can do and wanted her for his own use. Hayden was kinder to her than the nutcase would have been."

"You are joking!" Cass exclaimed Nikis and Ali both stared at the Oracle. "He changed her, physically and mentally!"

"Hayden did not alter her, Sergeant." Janet said sadly. "The one who did is dead. The Clergy take extreme offense at that kind of thing in Corpus ranks. Hayden was using Anyo's resources to try and make you into his tool. A pet Cyberlancer. You are already indoctrinated, so he figured his brainwashing would hold if he could make transform after the rest of his brainwashing was done. He found out from Anyo that Lissandra can heal like no one else can and took her from the Clergy. According to my visions, the brainwashing that was done to you will not hold after what Lissandra did, but he and Anyo changed their plans when they realized that. Your brain was to be removed and placed in new type of Raptor proxy. One that Anyo could program to keep you in line."

"That is insane." Ali spoke up before anyone else could. "Even I know that brainwashing Cyberlancers is a _bad_ idea."

"Yeah, cause your boss _tried_." Nikis growled, only to pause as Janet slapped him! Somehow, she physically connected to his warframe and he recoiled a bit. "Janet?"

"Nikis, I know you are upset with him and I know why." Janet said quietly. "Heaven knows, I _agree_ with you! But we need him. You are heavily involved in this so I can't see it but so clearly, but I know it gets bad. Especially when the other assorted nutcases figure out what Lissandra can do. They will. There is a reason the Clergy kept her ability quiet." She speared Ali with a finger as he gasped. "Yes. And _no!_ Do _not_ speak it or face _my_ wrath!" She commanded and Ali bowed to her, a formal kowtow.

"If… If what I believe is true...?" Ali asked slowly and Janet nodded. "Oh dear."

"Even the Tenno would not be immune to the lure." Janet said, glowering at all the others who slowly lowered their weapons. "When they find out the truth, _they_ are going to demand her."

"What?" Rachel asked, stunned. "Why would _Tenno_ of all people..."

"Do not ask that!" Janet did not scream the words, but the resounded like thunder anyway.

"No." Ali moved to stand beside Lissandra's still form and then he bent down to scoop her up, cradling her gently. "You will find out eventually and when you do… Morals and ethics are meaningless against such a temptation." He sighed, stroking the girl's short hair. "It won't matter if she doesn't want to help or not, will it?" He asked Janet who shook her head. "Would it be more merciful to end her suffering?" He asked Janet who pursed her lips.

"She is not suffering." Cass protested. "Don't hurt her!"

"That is the problem, sergeant." Janet said sadly. "No one would. Not even the _Grineer_ would. They would keep her caged. Keep her comfortable, keep her happy as best they can, but a cage made of silk is _still_ a _cage_. She would go mad. Sooner rather than later. And even that would not free her." She shook her head when Ali tilted his in query. "I don't think so. I don't know for sure. My visions are clouded due to Nikis being involved. I know who you are and who you were. I ask _you_ , formally, to take steps if it looks like she will fall into the hands of the enemies of humanity. She would thank us both."

"Um..." Marlena swallowed hard as everyone looked at her. "Does that include me?"

"No." Janet replied without hesitation. "You and yours just want to be left alone. You are likely the only one here completely free from the regular temptation. But even you have felt her touch, so you know what she can do. Tell me that is not tempting."

"It is." Marlena said softly. "If it wasn't totally wrong, I might consider asking if she wanted to come with us although she would… not..." Marlena froze and then her metal face went slack. "No!" She gasped in shock and horror. "Oh no!" She clamped her mouth shut, set her posture and strode to stand by Ali. She crossed her arms and just from that, everyone could see she was not going to move.

"Janet, we can all keep a secret!" Nikis protested.

"Not like this, you can't." Janet replied and both Ali and Marlena nodded soberly. "There are far too many with far too much to lose to let her run free. If Anyo knows, he will blab it. It is what he does, run his _mouth_. The Clergy hid her. We will need to talk to them. Preferably before Hayden runs afoul of them, because the Reverend Mother is very upset." Nikis actually winced and Janet nodded. "For now? The Sergeant and the girl need medical attention. This place may very well be the only one Hayden cannot take them from, if only because they need help that can only be given here and the Tenno Code allows little leeway in such cases."

"Not that such would stop him." Ali said quietly. Nikis bristled abut Ali shook his head. "You know Hayden. If he sets his mind on a target, what happens?"

"Bang." Nikis said with a sigh. "If he tries, every Tenno will rise against him, shade and corporeal alike."

"He likely won't." Janet offered. "He is not stupid, just driven."

"Agreed." Ali said quietly. Marlena nodded, not speaking.

"I do not understand why he wanted me." Cass said weakly. "I mean, yeah, I have a way with computers but I wouldn't serve a Tenno. I serve the Company."

"If he wanted you to? You would." Ali said quietly. "There are many ways, mental, physical, pharmaceutical… No matter your training, oaths or whatever, there are ways. He knows them all." Cass paled. "Galina would have protested of course, but it never stopped him if he felt the need great enough."

"But why?" Cass demanded, sitting up straight in his chair. "That makes no sense! I am not a Cyberlancer."

"You will be very shortly." Janet said sadly and then she stiffened. "The Reverend Mother is calling me. Can I bring her into this transmission?" She asked Rachel.

"Sure, why _not?_ " Rachel snarked. "What is one more person shown an ultra secret and secure location that is not secret enough for you?" Was that hurt that lurked in her voice?

"Someone who already knew it existed." Janet replied and the Reverend Mother of the Clergy shimmered into a hologram beside her. She looked startled but recovered quickly. "Reverend Mother, they been recovered, but there are… complications."

"I do not doubt it." The human looking female in the nun's habit said with a deep sigh. She looked at Cass and smiled just a little. "Glad to see you made it, Cass."

"For the moment." Cass said in a monotone. "The day is young."

"Don't borrow trouble." The mouthpiece of the Clergy said with a hint of ice and he stiffened before nodding. "Lissandra?"

"Alive, hurt." Cass said sadly. "She helped me and I… I couldn't help her."

"Yeah, she would." The Reverend Mother took a deep breath and turned to Janet. "How much do they know?"

"The one holding her and Marlena have guessed." Janet was very quiet. "I am trying to limit the damage."

"Don't bother." The nun replied heavily. "This is going to be bad enough if what I suspect is true. We raided the lab where we thought they were held and what we found… Tell me is it not him?" She begged.

"It is." Janet replied. "It is the First Tenno. Working with Anyo for some incredibly convoluted reason. My vision are unclear."

"Of course they are." The Reverend Mother sighed again. She gave herself a shake. "What do you need?" She asked, her tone uncompromising.

"I need an answer!" Rachel snapped. "You all know I can keep a secret. If I am going to offer sanctuary and protection against _Hayden_ of all people, I want to know _why_."

Janet opened her mouth to retort, but the Reverend Mother spoke first.

"What is _age_ , Tenno Rachel?" The Clergywoman asked quietly. Everyone stared at her. Ali, Marlena and Janet all bowed their heads.

"What?" Rachel demanded. "What are you talking about?"

"Lissandra." The Reverend Mother looked sick. "Age in most biological forms that are not engineered to avoid it is an overabundance of toxins that cause damage over time. Things wear out without the toxins. With them? Things wear out faster and are far harder to replace or repair. Things like the heart, the lungs and the kidneys in humans. All vital to the operation of the body and when they start deteriorating, the body goes into a downward spiral that is only stopped with a great deal of expense and technology. That is putting aside deterioration of brain cells which has its own problems."

"And?" Rachel growled.

"And... What if someone with more money than brains made a way to filter out the toxins?" The Reverend Mother asked very quietly and Rachel stiffened. "What if someone who had no ethics or scruples whatsoever took a young orphaned woman and made her into something truly amazing and terrifying?"

Cass stilled. "Reverend Mother." He pleaded.

"Lissandra is a good kid!" The nun declared. "She is kindhearted, gentle and loving. She went through several definitions of hell, both where she grew up and after she was taken from there. When we found her, she was barely sane. She had been locked in a _closet_ and fed by _proxies_. For almost a year, the only human she saw was the man who made her what she is. Do not ask me what he did to her." She slumped. "He didn't want anyone to know. It took several weeks to break him enough to get him to spill the information and as soon as he did, my predecessor had him executed. When Lissandra was healed and lucid enough, my predecessor gave the girl a choice. Lissandra chose a funeral for her old identity and a new identity, a new life. She wanted to help people. She has good days and bad, but mostly? She helps and that helps her. She knew the danger, but this… No."

"You...are not _saying_..." Rachel stammered.

"The human body is not made to handle such stresses. When she does not use her ability, she is in near constant pain no matter what we try, every hour of every day. She has led a cloistered life her whole life with us. She is a _nurse_ for God's sake!" The nun all but shouted. "Do I need to spell it out?"

"No." Nikis snapped and Rachel looked at him. "We can _guess._ " He shook his head. "None of us are Ponce De Leon. We got enough problems without idiots seeking fairy tales like the Fountain of Youth."

"How… How old is she?" Cass was punch drunk now as realization dawned. Lissandra was immortal!

"She was sixteen when that scum altered her ten years ago." The Reverend Mother said savagely "And she has not aged a _day_ since then." No one would meet her glare. "Will you kill her?"

"No." Nikis said very softly. "I ain't got the right." All of the other Tenno shook their heads with him. The nun stared at him and then she slumped.

"God help me, I wish you thought differently." The Reverend Mother said softly. "Neither my predecessor nor I had the guts to end her pain. No method she tried works, she filters any toxins and heals any damage. She stopped trying. I... I could end it for her, but I can't. She asked my predecessor to do it and she couldn't." She was crying now. "We can't just kill her! Pragmatism that we might need her aside... She is such a good kid! We _all_ love her!"

That was not a good time for the portal behind Cass to flash. Every single Tenno had weapon in hand as Ali moved to the side, shielding Lissandra with his own body. Cass slid his chair away from the portal as Marlena moved to flank him. All of the eyes in the area met Hayden Tenno's and his physical face held shock.

"Oh… Um… Hi?" Hayden did not move. Wise. Nikis answered him with a snarl.

"Hello, _Ponce_."


	5. Chapter 5

**Bombshells**

"You _SON OF A KUBROW!_ "

It was a very good thing that Cass was unarmed as he surged up in his chair. If he had held a weapon? He would have fired it. Marlena moved to stand beside him, but no one else moved or spoke as the sergeant braced the First Tenno who stood under his rage.

"What the fuck gives you the right to hurt her?" Cass demanded. "Me? I am a soldier. I knew the risks and I know I have no chance against an oh so special person like you, but _her_?" He jerked his head at Lissandra. "What is _she_ to you?"

Hayden Tenno did not move, did not so much as flinch as the sergeant's ire landed on him. When he spoke, it was slow and careful.

"She is both a miracle and a horror." Hayden said quietly. "You will not believe me, but I was trying to help. Her and you."

"Bullshit!" Nikis snapped.

"You _took_ them!" The Reverend Mother snarled from her holo. Janet moved to stand beside her and the Oracle was just as furious. "None of Anyo's people could have gotten in and out so quietly. It _had_ to have been you."

"It was me and Alicia, yes." Hayden replied. "Just us. No one else was involved." He went to his knees very slowly beside the still Trinity warframe and shook his head. "Just her and me."

"You admit it?" Ali asked when no one else spoke.

"Alicia discovered that Anyo was going to launch an assault on the Corpus breeding facility where Lissandra was housed to take her. She had no time to take it through channels with the Lotus gone." Hayden said with a sigh. The Reverend Mother inhaled and he nodded to her. "And what would _you_ have done?"

"Responded." The Clergywoman had ice in her tone now.

"Yes. Likely triggering a civil war within the Corpus. You and your allies versus him and everyone with grudges against the Clergy or anyone else. A general melee. A godawful mess." Hayden agreed. He turned to Janet. "What have you seen?"

"I saw you destroy Galina." Janet's tone wasn't much warmer than the Reverend Mother's. "She was going to join Lynn. Then she heard about this… this _travesty_. Working with _Anyo_? You are as crazy as _he_ is!"

"Maybe. We infiltrated his operation as human mercenaries with better gear than normal. Alicia found out about the plan and she came to me, because Intelligence hasn't decided on a successor for Sun yet." Hayden said very softly as he laid a hand on Alicia's helmet. She did not stir. "No one wants the job. Not too surprising. Hell, they offered it to _me_ and I told them to go fly a kite." He looked at Ali whose posture was still. Danger lurked close at hand, but no anger. Odd. "You won't believe me, but I didn't mean that to happen! I was trying to send her back to the database! No more!"

"You lie as often as Oris did." Ali said very quietly. "Why should we believe anything you say?"

"You won't." Hayden rose to his feet. "But anywhere that Lissandra goes, she will be in danger. Even here, when people find out about her. You know." That was not a question.

"We know." Nikis had not relaxed at all, his aim point still on Hayden's skull.

"Damn." Hayden slumped a bit and then straightened. "Humans have been looking for something like that since the dawn of their recorded history. Entire _wars_ have been fought over the simple _possibility_ of such. God help the girl… She can do it."

"What? So, you make her serve you?" Cass demanded.

"No. She doesn't deserve this! I almost killed her when I realized." Hayden said slowly. "When you tried to escape the third time and Anyo's goons hurt you, very nearly killed you. She healed you. You took a direct hit to the spine that took out your liver. You were _dying_. She got to you before anyone else did and _she healed you_." Hayden shook his head. "Alicia and I were both stunned. Anyo was jubilant. It was his test for her, you see. He knew you would escape again. He made it hard, but he knew you would. He wanted you to get wounded in the attempt, so he could let her loose. Maybe not quite that badly, since he _did_ want you for other reasons, but he wanted her tested. He wanted to push her to showing her full ability. He did. She saved you and doomed herself."

"And you were not involved?" Cass snarled tightly.

"I didn't say that." Hayden shrugged. "I was. I was part of the response team that was called when you hacked the _entire network_." He smiled a little sadly. "Say what you will about me, but _you_ are nuts. Between fighting the proxies, keeping the reactor from overloading and trying to clean the viruses off most of the other systems including life support, he had no one else to spare in that entire facility." Everyone looked at Cass who shrugged. "Alicia and I were there. We were trying to figure out how to get you out when you were hit by a Lanka bolt and went down hard. Then Lissandra came flying out of her cage and grabbed you before any of us could react. Alicia was right there when Lissandra did what she does and she got scans of it. What she saw hit her hard. Very hard." He looked at Janet. "You can see if I am telling the truth about that."

"I can see what physically happened." Janet replied, still icy. "I cannot say what is going on inside your head then any more than I can now. Tenno minds are closed to my powers. Not that I _want_ to muck about in there."

"Smart." Hayden actually smiled at her. He turned back to Cass. "I did nothing besides sedating you both, grabbing you both and running like hell. That is all I did. That is all Alicia did. We didn't have _time_ to do anything more. Then Anyo was going to 'downsize' us since we saw too much and we both had to think and talk fast."

"How long was I gone?" Cass asked anyone.

"Less than a week." The Reverend Mother said slowly. "You both disappeared three days ago." Cass nodded slowly.

"Lissandra was meddled with using Tenno techniques." Nikis snapped. "If _you_ didn't do it-"

"I did." Hayden slumped. "Anyo was going to try and kill both Alicia and myself. That would have blown our covers and at best gotten both of the hostages killed when he realized two armed Tenno were inside the building with him. We had to do _something!_ " He sighed again. "I am not proud that I messed with her head or yours, sergeant, but it kept you alive. That is something. We had no chance to snatch you two and run, but we hoped for such an opportunity. Then the Sentient showed up and Anyo freaked."

"'The Sentient' has a _name_." Marlena said with a growl of her own. "So did the ones you destroyed." Hayden looked at her and did not comment. "Why should we believe any of this?"

"You won't." Hayden shrugged as he stepped away from Alicia. "Anyo has full biometrics on both of them now. You know they cannot hide from such anywhere that the Corpus can reach. I do not know if he can track them to here. The Orokin could. If he can? Then he will follow them, even here."

"Let him come!" Rachel was just as angry as everyone else.

"I will not see any more of my people die over this." Hayden said quietly. "I will not."

"So what?" Cass snarled. "Kill her?"

"No. You and her are coming with me." Hayden replied. "Sergeant? Code 'Crack the egg'."

Cass screamed as agony poured through him. His mind was.. He was… Bright blue energy in the form of computer code was sloughing off of him in waves. He couldn't think. Everything hurt and- Somehow, he was still coherent enough to comprehend when everyone started talking at once. He could see everything, hear everything even through the pain. It was very odd.

"STOP!" Ali shouted. "NO ONE MOVE! Hayden! No!"

"You have maybe a minute before he reaches critical mass." Hayden said with a shrug. "Kill me and him, or let us go. Your choice."

" _We_ choose a third option.." A new voice sounded as _darker_ _blue_ energy computer code swirled around Cass and the energy that had been killing him faded a bit. Not all the way, just a bit. Enough for him to gawk. He stared as two warframes, an Ash and a Frost Prime, and a young looking girl in a golden gown appeared standing between him and Hayden who recoiled. All were _furious!_ The girl spoke again. "You better _pray_ Liriel doesn't catch you. It will make Lynn kicking you in the balls seem like a tickle."

"Jesse! No!" Hayden started forward, but both of the warframes stepped forward, red and golden code swirling around them and he stepped back. Everyone made way for them. Neither drew weapons. Neither _needed_ them!

"Lynn warned you a long time ago about the consequences of such. This ability is too powerful to have _idiots_ playing with it, trying to duplicate it. She never taught you how to make Cyberlancers for good reason. She knew you _would!_ " Jesse snapped. "Whatever _your_ reasoning, there are limits for a reason. Ali's mentor learned that lesson the hard way. _You_ are about to."

"You will kill him!" Hayden all but begged.

"Yeah, better _you_ do it?" Jesse's tone was more feral Kavat than young girl. "There are things even you _do not do_. This is one of them. Tenno! Observe the results of hubris."

Every Tenno in the area jerked as Hayden was suddenly surrounded by golden code, red code and _two_ colors of blue code! Cass stared at his hands and they were glowing. Jesse stepped forward and took his hands in her own. Her own code surrounded his, suffusing it. His pain faded and he saw and felt her code easing him, solidifying his own connections to it.

"You are not going to die today, sergeant." Jesse's tone moderated. She was kind as she gave his hands a squeeze. "This I swear."

"I… I can't..." Cass said weakly.

"It is okay." Jesse smiled at him a bit sadly as Hayden summoned his Glaive to slice at the code that flowed around him. That seemed to be congealing around him. It had no effect and when he tried to throw it, it did not leave his hand! "Let us do the heavy lifting, sergeant. Just relax. I have never done this, but I was briefed. We can help you."

"Please?" Cass asked as the code flaring from his hands intensified. Jesse's code flared as well, pulling it back, easing it and him.

"Sergeant, stop fighting it." Jesse said quietly. "The code is part of you and it is reacting to your emotions. Calm yourself. Deep breaths. You don't want to hurt Lissandra, do you?" She asked, her face sad. "The girl likes you a great deal."

"She is… She is a good kid." Cass took a shuddering breath and then another. He slowed his breathing through sheer force of will and Jesse nodded approval as his code diminished until it was a barely visible glow around his hands. "I… I can't do this!" He begged. "I have duties!"

"Sergeant, the one absolute in life is change." Jesse said softly. "Know this: You are not alone. _We_ stand with you. The Corpus know about us, what we can do. We terrify them." The Reverend Mother nodded, silent. "We do not focus on them, but when they face us, they have no chance against us and they know it. Helplessness is a very bad feeling, especially in the rich and powerful. They get desperate and desperate people do dumb things." She squeezed his hands again. "They have been trying to duplicate our abilities for some time and Anyo finally succeeded with Hayden's help."

"That doesn't make _sense!_ " Cass protested weakly but Jesse just chuckled.

"And what part of _any_ of our lives makes any sense at all?" Jesse asked with a smirk as Cass groaned. His code faded entirely and when it did, the other code surrounding Hayden collapsed into a small spot that flared and vanished.

"Where did you send him?" Ali broke the sudden silence carefully.

"Where do you think?" Came from the Frost Prime.

"Not the rainbows singing 'Kumbaya'!" Ali actually groaned as Jesse's smile turned evil. "That is vicious!"

"So was this!" Jesse gave Cass' hands another squeeze. "We felt the sergeant's awakening. We knew it was only a matter of time before the Corpus managed it and we had laid plans, but none of us expected _this._ I am glad we got here in time. We cannot stay, but you are not alone, sergeant. Not now, not ever. Hold to that."

"What… What would have happened?" Cass asked weakly. Jesse looked at him and he slumped. "I... I think I need to know."

"Critical mass." Ali said very softly and all three Tenno Cyberlancers nodded to him. "When Salia did it… She forced the change on a volunteer. Then more than one."

"By some definitions of the word 'volunteer'." Jesse's tone was flat and Ali nodded. "Then again, to almost all sending them, _all_ suicide bombers are volunteers."

"What she did was wrong." Ali offered. "I know that now. Long talks with Ny- Galina..." He corrected himself with a sigh. "Galina and I talked great deal and she showed me the truth that I had denied. Salia and I were both driven and fanatic. I thought it was right what we did. It was not. By any stretch of the imagination."

"After what you did, no one will trust you." Jesse warned. Ali nodded.

"I do not ask for such." Ali agreed. "I do not even ask for a chance at redemption, because there can be no forgiveness. For what it worth though? Thank you. I am glad you could stop him."

"It will happen again." Jesse warned and Cass stilled. She smiled at him, but it was melancholy "You are not trained. You do not know how to control it. If you want, we can teach you but that is a full time, for-life commitment. It is _not_ something to jump into. You need time to think, to heal. I can dampen it, but not stop it. I do not know what Hayden was thinking. Maybe to use you as a bomb? That makes little sense, but..." She shrugged. "Like I said, sense is not what our lives are about."

"Boom? How big?" Cass did not quite beg that. "Grenade? Artillery?"

"Nuke." Jesse said with a growl and Cass swallowed hard. "Small, but the word 'small' when talking about critical mass code is relative. Tiny, nearly undetectable weapons of mass destruction. Which is exactly what Ali's mentor used her 'volunteers' as." Cass stared from her to Ali who slumped. "Three times before Lynn and Ariana caught up with her."

"He would have let the sergeant explode..." The Reverend Mother looked as if she was about to faint. " _Inside the Citadel!?_ "

"Probably not. He was probably bluffing." Jesse replied as she gave Cass' hands a final squeeze and released him. "We could not take the chance."

"Thank you." Rachel said and then paused. "Although I _do_ want to know how you got in here through the defenses." Jesse looked at the Frost who shook his head. Both warframes vanished and Jesse shrugged. "Jesse!" Rachel pleaded.

"I am not going to cross my Grandmaster, Rachel." Jesse replied. "For what it is worth? You know how hard it is to keep him out of _anywhere_." Rachel groaned but then nodded. Jesse bowed to her and then vanished as well in a pop of blue computer code.

All of the people in the area looked at one another and then Cass felt faint. A hand grabbed him before he could fall out of his chair and he stared up at Marlena's worried face. He smiled at her, but she was fading. Or he was.

She was singing to him silently in computer language as he fell asleep. It was so **beautiful**. So alien and yet, so human, it was…

* * *

Some time later

When Cass woke, he felt odd but good. He stared around and the room was not quite Orokin decor. He had been in several Orokin towers both as a combatant and as a visitor more recently and had always come away both awed and terrified by the sheer technological power of the long gone past.

The bed he was in was clearly a medical design, with monitors and other equipment all around him. Only a long tunic like garment covered him but he was not cold. It had to be medical in a nature, but whatever was built into it, the machinery was unobtrusive even to his new senses and nothing hurt when he tried... He froze and stared down at his legs. His _whole and completely intact_ legs!

"How long was I asleep?" He asked. He _had_ to be under observation.

"Eight hours." A voice he knew sounded as the door opened. Healer Iriana had been crying but she smiled when she saw him looking at her. "We do our best work under pressure, we Tenno do."

"Yes." Cass patted his right leg and it felt as it always had before he had woken in that cell. "You always do good work, Healer. You… You have been briefed?" He asked as she moved to his bedside and sat.

"Yes." Iriana bowed her head, sadness pouring off her in waves. "That poor girl. That poor, poor girl."

"Can you do anything?" Cass all but begged. Iriana shook her head and he slumped. "I had hoped, but… I knew. Somehow I knew."

"You will learn to develop the senses." Iriana said softly as she reached for his hand. He let her take it and hold it, checking his vitals in some odd Tenno way. "If you choose to. As bad as what was done to the girl was… _This_ is just as bad in its own way." Her eyes flashed. Not a good sign. "You are not the problem. You are a Cyberlancer, a danger, but mainly to yourself as you are. As soon as _anyone_ else realizes what the girl can do, she will be demanded. Rachel will tell them to go away and probably far less politely, but they will keep doing it. The sad thing is, Lissandra _can_ help so many and from what I was told about her? She will _want_ to. I know her kind very well. I am that way myself."

"And if she starts, it won't ever end." Cass said quietly and Iriana nodded. "How… How is she?"

"She needed some surgery to correct some of what Anyo did to her just as you did, but she came through fine." Iriana reassured him. "She should wake up in an hour or so. Some people want to talk to you, but I made them wait."

"I bet all _kinds_ of people want to talk to me." Cass groaned and then sighed. "No time like the present?" Iriana smiled at him and then nodded.

"I will stay with you until Lissandra wakes, then I will go stay with her. Don't push yourself too hard." She cautioned as he sat up. "I know Special Forces are all about pushing boundaries, but there _are_ limits."

"I know." For once, Cass was not ironic or sarcastic. "I need to report."

"Your boss and _his_ boss are waiting to talk to you." Iriana smiled at Cass' sudden non-expression. "And no, you are not in trouble for this. Not yet anyway." She smirked as he slumped a bit.

"The day is young."


	6. Chapter 6

**Reports**

Cass felt very strange walking into the large room. The garment he wore looked like a Corpus space suit but it was far more advanced than even his Special Forces issue armor had been. He could feel the tech in it and talk to it even better than the best Corpus nueral linkages. And he wasn't using a link! Healer Iriana was hovering, but not too close as he stepped forward and both of the people who had been waiting turned to see him. He gulped as he realized that both Commander Horatius, the leader of the Special Forces and the Reverend Mother of the Clergy were present in the _flesh!_ There were also several Tenno, three in warframes, two not. A Saryn Prime. Rachel of the First. An Ember Prime that he recognized as a Caretaker. Jasmina. A Nyx Prime who stood stiff as a board. The two unarmored Tenno were mixed, a male and a female. The male had a beard and the female, a horrifically scarred face.

"Sergeant Cass, reporting." Cass said with a nod to the Commander who sighed.

"Don't start, Cass." Horatius said with a growl. Cass had to smile as Horatius turned to the Reverend Mother, a sick look on his face. "May I?"

"I am not the one you need to ask. I am a guest here just like you are." The Reverend Mother said mildly. She turned to where a Saryn Prime warframe leaned up against the wall. "Rachel?"

"Don't break anything." Rachel shrugged "And try not to _kill_ him after all the work Iriana put into fixing him."

All eyes turned to the Healer as she threw up her hands. "Why do I even _try?_ " Her groan was long suffering. "Go ahead, get it out of your systems, _children!_ No _blood_ or I take some of my _own_."

"Hmmm." Horatius turned back to Cass with an evil glint in his eyes. Cass shrugged. "You know what that means."

"Yeah, I do." Cass held out a hand and Horatius took it. Their fists clasped together and everyone gawked as the two soldiers started _thumb-wrestling_. In moments, Horatius had Cass' thumb pinned and Cass shook his head. "Good enough?"

"Its not like you to give up, Cass." Horatius said quietly and then, with a deft move, twisted Cass' hand and tried to take him to the floor. Cass countered with a twist of his own and the two men struggled for a moment. Neither could gain any leverage over the other and both were equally trained. Neither wanted to kill the other, or even cause real harm, so they were limited.

Cass spoke again. "Been a bad week."

"Yeah." Horatius agreed and then released one other to step back, neither breathing hard. "Do it right."

"Won't they take offense?" Cass asked, nodding to the Reverend Mother and then Tenno.

"The Healer will." Horatius shrugged. "The Reverend Mother won't. I warned her. The others? I don't know. Why don't you find out?" Cass glared at him and then sighed. The lower ranked Corpus solider nodded, strode to stand in between Horatius and the Reverend Mother and then he started to sing!

And _what_ he was singing...!

'I am the very model of a proper Company Corporal  
I've information vegetable, mineral and animal  
I know the rules of Profit, and I quote the fights historical  
From Orokin to Jupiter, in order categorical…

Iriana was gaping as the Reverend Mother smiled widely and Cass continued. His singing was faster and faster.

'I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical  
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical  
About binomial theorem I am teeming with a lot o' news  
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse '

Now all of the Tenno were staring as well. The ones not in warframes looked stoic, but was a smile on the male's face? Yes. The old bearded being was shaking his head, but he _was_ smiling as Cass continued.

'I know our mythic history, Betrayers and Orokin  
I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for contradiction  
I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of all the Tenno

I know the rules of-'

"Enough!" The Reverend Mother snapped as all of the Tenno stiffened. Cass broke off mid-word. "They don't need to hear the rest. It is him. No one else could sing that with a straight face." She said with a smile that was not feigned. She shook her head. "You lot and your recognition codes."

"It is next to impossible to fake such and if he had been tampered with? He wouldn't have been able to sing it. Be glad it wasn't _Violet_." Horatius said with a wide smile and Cass shuddered. "Hey!" The Commander protested. "She never _hurt_ _s_ anyone."

"No, she just does her damnedest to give all the guys heart attacks." Cass replied, assuming a parade rest stance. Everyone stared at him and he winced. "Please don't ask."

"You know that simply makes us all curious. What does she sing?" The bearded Tenno inquired carefully. Cass looked at Horatius who shrugged. _He_ looked at the Reverend Mother who sighed.

"Sergeant Violet gets an unholy glee from shocking people." The nun said with a shrug. "What she does to prove it is her and not an impostor is best described as 'pornographic' and leave it at that." She muttered something else under her breath that sounded like 'Please dear _god_ , leave it at that!'

"I _was_ tampered with, Commander." Cass said quietly. "Did you undo it?" He asked Iriana who nodded, her face grim. It relaxed as he bowed to her. "Thank you."

"You are welcome." Iriana unbent and stepped to Cass' side as he slumped a bit. She produced a scanner that she swept over him and nodded. "And no blood. I confess to shock."

"Healer." Horatius and Cass both protested, but Iriana just put her scanner away and crossed her arms.

"Sergeant." The Reverend Mother spoke up when no one else did. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." Cass replied. "I knew whatever was going on was bad, but I had no idea." When he looked at her, his face was grim. "This will hurt the Company, won't it?"

"I don't know." The nun admitted. "Probably. Our analysts are stumped by this. We all knew that Anyo has been trying to find ways to break the resistance on Venus. For all of his fanaticism, troops and money, he cannot kill what he cannot _find_. He had repeatedly demanded our aid and we have told him that he _made_ the mess, _he_ can clean it up."

"You know what he will do if he doesn't find them. He did it before." Cass said very quietly. The Reverend Mother nodded. "Did he know about my past and Lissandra's?"

"No." The Reverend Mother promised. "Neither did I until I accessed the secure files left for me by my predecessor. I knew Lissandra had been orphaned, but I had no idea _why_. I..." She broke off and bowed her head. "That is no excuse. I am no more a goddess than Oracle Janet is, but this hurts, Sergeant Cass. I like Lissandra and I cannot help her."

"No one will harm her." Rachel said with a growl from where she stood. "No one will _bother_ her if I have anything to say about it." That was a clear warning to everyone.

"She will likely appreciate that but be warned, the girl has a stubborn streak a kilometer wide." The Reverend Mother smiled a bit faintly and nodded. "Right now? The sergeant is our problem. You are healed now, Sergeant and you likely have a lot of questions." Cass nodded. "We are here to answer what we can. Whatever Anyo did to you, Marlena's companions wiped the records of that facility and killed all of the staff before Hayden attacked them and we hope whatever evil was recorded is gone for good. I don't think he had time to back the records up anywhere else. Which is a good thing." The nun said firmly. Everyone nodded as Cass looked at them. "As Jesse said, this is far too powerful."

"I have never understood what Cyberlancers do. I always thought it was just more Tenno ultra high tech magic science stuff." Cass admitted.

The Reverend Mother looked at Horatius who shrugged. They all looked at Rachel who nodded. For her part, she turned to the bearded Tenno who nodded to her. He spoke.

"Sergeant, my name is Mavri and I am a historian of sorts." The older looking being said calmly. "'Cyberlancer' is a term that was coined by the first one. She was infected by the Technocyte virus but she was not subsumed or changed entirely. She was not a trained warrior like the First Tenno, but she was no less dangerous when pressed." Cass nodded, still mystified. "She had to call it something and she likely did not intend it to be taken seriously, but it was. It is."

"Considering what happens every time anyone from the Company faces one, I would say it is fairly serious." Cass replied, still clueless. "But… I mean, it is obviously a Technocyte derived power. Am I infected?" He asked Iriana who shook her head.

"No." Iriana promised. "That was the first thing we checked." She smiled at him and he relaxed a bit. "You are not and you won't be." The Ember Prime nodded, but remained silent. "We have a lot of resources making sure that you and Lissandra are safe here."

"I can't stay here." Cass' tone was flat and everyone looked at him. "I am a threat. I am not cleared for all of the sociopolitical things going on and I am very thankful for that. I know more than I should _about_ more than I should. Would wiping my memories-?" He broke off as Iriana, Rachel and the Reverend Mother all shook their heads in unison.

"It wouldn't work." Iriana said sadly. "Cyberlancer minds are not quite like human or Tenno minds. They are very quiet about the actual changes, and only recently have any of the rest of us _seen_ any of the actual changes happen, but they _are_ happening inside your skull. Slowly, but inexorably. Any memories you have now will be backed up in far too many places and ways to wipe completely."

"Am I still human?" Cass pleaded. Iriana laid a hand on his arm and he could see his hand trembling.

"Yes." Iriana reassured him. "You are still of species homo sapiens."

"Is Lissandra?" Cass asked and no one replied. He looked Iriana in the eyes and the Healer met his gaze. "Is she?" He asked, his tone tight.

"I don't know." Iriana admitted. She looked at the Reverend Mother who sighed.

"Sergeant Cass, the answer to that question is complicated. The usual definition of a species is a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding." The nun said very carefully. "After what was done to her, Lissandra cannot bear young. A fact for which I am sad and at the same time, quietly grateful, because any children she has would likely bear her curse." Cass stared at her in horror and the Reverend Mother shook her head. "That was the very first thing she demanded of my predecessor, Sergeant. Not to let her have any children who would suffer as she had." She looked away. "Not that it mattered, what the madman did to her rendered her sterile."

"She is a good… A good woman." Cass said weakly.

"She is a good _kid_." The Reverend Mother corrected him, face grim. "She will be a kid until she dies. Her body does not age. We protected her for ten years and now we have failed her." When she turned back to Cass, rage sang in her eyes, but not in her voice. "Anyo will pay for what he did to her and you."

"That still does not answer my question." Cass protested. "Is she human?"

"Am I?" The Reverend Mother demanded.

"I..." Cass paused and looked at everyone else, but no one offered aid. "I honestly do not know." He admitted.

"Neither do I." The Reverend Mother admitted. "I know that eventually, according to the Guidelines, I will _have_ to bear another child. To raise in the Company way." Cass stiffened along with Horatius and Iriana. None of the others reacted. "But I can't. Not yet. The doctors all tell me I am physically capable, but I can't. After what happened with Sara, Sierra, Sheila, and then René and her brothers… I don't think I am ready and the mental professionals among us agree. They have filled out all the forms, given me extensions and what assurances they can. I talk with them regularly and they say I am making progress, so I hope to have the answer to that someday. To whether or not I am human. I am needed doing what I am, so I will. Someday, I will find out if I can bear human young. Physically, I am capable. Mentally? I am not."

"No one blames you for that." Cass said softly. "I…" He gave himself a shake. "So, my way with computers allowed this to happen? I was always good with them, but this is way more than I anything I dreamed of in my worst nightmares."

"With all the records wiped and all the staff dead, we don't know what they did." The Reverend Mother said heavily. "The First Tenno _had_ to be involved, but beyond that? I don't know."

"Am I a threat to the Tenno here?" Cass asked Rachel who did not reply. "Please?"

"Anything can be a threat, sergeant." The bearded Tenno said with a sigh. "As you are now? No. You clearly do not wish harm to any here. But you heard and saw what happened." Cass looked at the floor. "Tenno Rachel has to worry about all of her people."

"And some may benefit from Lissandra's touch." The Reverend Mother actually growled that and Cass winced as everyone looked at her. "Don't even _try_ to argue that." She warned. Rachel met her glare and slowly nodded.

"I want to say 'No', sergeant. Reassure you that it won't happen." Rachel was very quiet. "I can't. I am not more infallible than the next Tenno, as recent events have proven." Cass stared at her and she shook her head. "You missed a _mess_."

"Am I going to explode?" Cass asked Iriana who pursed her lips and then shook her head.

"As far as I can tell, no. But a lot of what is going on is above my head." Iriana gave his arm a squeeze. "Sergeant, none of us want to push you. You have been _abused_. If not quite as badly as Lissandra was, then just as thoroughly."

"I am going to ask something and it is going to bother everyone." Cass warned and Iriana stiffened, but nodded as everyone else did. "Can _Liriel_ kill Lissandra?"

No one moved and then Horatius slowly shook his head.

"She probably can." The Commander of the Special Forces said softly. " _Would_ she?" He winced. " _I_ do not want to be the one to ask her such a thing."

"You wouldn't." Cass replied and everyone stilled as he sighed. "I know she can kill me. Would she if I asked?"

"Sergeant! No!" Iriana protested and the Reverend Mother took a step towards him, but stopped as Cass shook his head again. He laid his hand on Iriana's.

"You are a Healer." Cass said softly. "Your dedication and devotion to your calling puts any of my peers to shame." He gave Iriana's hand a squeeze. "But healer… I am threat. To the Tenno, to humanity, to the Company that I am sworn to serve and protect. I need to make sure that I can be stopped and I owe Lissandra my life." He met the Healer's suddenly glistening eyes with his own. "That wasn't a lie, was it?"

"No." Iriana said in a suddenly husky voice. "Even with the best healing, such injuries leave traces. She saved your life. Sergeant, please!"

"I am not one of those characters from the old historical romances." Cass reassured the distraught healer. "I am not going to do anything dumb. I need more information. I want to help her if I can and I do like her."

"She likes you." Iriana said weakly and then her tone turned sly. "After the surgery, our sedatives didn't work and she woke for a bit. I soothed her back to sleep, but her first words were 'What has Sergeant Cass done _now?_ '" Cass pinked and everyone chuckled.

"Love at first sight." Horatius started, only to pause as the Reverend Mother slugged him in the arm! "Hey!"

"Lissandra deserves any comfort we can give her." The Reverend Mother said sternly enough that both Cass and the Commander stiffened. "We did not do that to her but the Company _did_. That she is _remotely_ sane is a testament to the girl's love for her fellow beings and her devotion to her calling." She looked at Iriana who frowned. "She is the closest thing _we_ , the Clergy, have to a Healer and it has cost her dearly over the years."

"It is not a small burden, no." Iriana sighed and then nodded. "Do you want me to talk to her when she wakes?"

"I would appreciate that." The Reverend Mother smiled but it was melancholy. "Sergeant Cass… The Queen of Cats probably _could_ , but she _won't._ Nikis could have, but _he_ wouldn't. None of us have the _right_ to kill her." She slumped a bit. "I sat with her during her latest episode and it hurt me to watch her suffer. Healing you has let her be free from pain for the first time in _months_. She will react. You better be ready for such."

"Is she going to make advances on me?" Cass asked. "She did." The Reverend Mother sighed and nodded.

"The girl understands all of the physical parts, but she hasn't dared let anyone get close." The nun smiled suddenly. "Until you." The smile she gave him was heartfelt, but there was clear warning in her eyes. The warning came though loud and clear in her next words. "If you hurt her, Sergeant, you will answer to me. Do I make myself clear?"

"Reverend Mother." Cass said weakly. "I… I can't… You know how badly I was hurt and..." He stilled as Iriana laid a hand on his arm. "Healer?"

"Do you want to?" Iriana asked very quietly. "She needs more help than any of us can give. You and she are bonded in several ways. You can help her cope and she can help you."

"I would love to, but I can't! I don't _have_ them anymore!" Cass protested. He froze as most of the others in the room chuckled. All the ones with visible faces were smiling. "What?"

" _Who_ are you _talking_ to, Sergeant?" The Reverend Mother looked as if she swallowed a bug, she was trying so hard to keep from laughing. "Did you hear _any_ of what happened when her daughter wound up in the Clergy's care?"

Cass stared at the Reverend Mother and then at Iriana whose face was set in a grim line. But the edges of her mouth twitched as if she too wanted to smile.

"Uh..." Cass swallowed hard as he stared down at the legs that he had been taking for granted. Legs that had been twisted remnants the day before. "Um… I… I _saw_ some of it." He swallowed and then forced himself to relax. "Healer… I… I don't..."

"Come on. Lissandra will wake up any minute." Iriana took hold of his arm and started him towards the door. It was testament to his confusion that he did not resist at all. "She will prefer you there and the three of us need to have a long talk. _Alone_." That was to everyone else who nodded. "It has been a while since I did 'the birds and the bees', but I am a mother. I can manage."

"Someone shoot me?" Cass pleaded, but everyone just laughed as Iriana led him away.

"No!" Everyone but Iriana chorused. "We don't want her mad at _us!_ "


	7. Chapter 7

**Kindness**

It was clear to both watchers when Lissandra woke up. She went from sleep to completely still in the space of a breath. Then she started to cry silently. Cass looked at Iriana who shrugged and waved for him to speak. Lissandra lay in a bed that might have been cloned from the one Cass woke in, in a room that looked almost identical. She wore a patient gown and little else.

"Lissandra?" Cass asked slowly as he moved in his chair. She turned to stare at him and her eyes opened a little, tears still falling. "Don't cry, girl. It is all right." He laid a hand on hers.

"They won't kill me, Sergeant!" Lissandra cried as Cass held her hand. "I begged and they won't! It is what Tenno _do_ and they _won't!_ " He started to hum softly and then whistled just as softly. She stilled. "I..."

"Cold, the air and water flowing." Cass sang and Lissandra slowly relaxed as he continued. "Hard, the land we call our home."

"Push, to keep the dark from coming." Lissandra joined in, her tears stopping as she closed her eyes to focus on her singing. "Feel the weight of what we owe."

"Fortuna." Iriana said very softly. "Both of you." Cass nodded, but did not look away from Lissandra as she continued to sing and he matched her words.

'This, the song of sons and daughters  
Hide, the heart of who we are  
Making peace to build our future  
Strong, united, working 'til we fall.'

They finished the chorus of the folk tune and Lissandra sighed deeply. She looked at Cass and she started crying again, but this time, quieter.

"Why can't I be strong?" Lissandra asked through her tears. "Why can't I be brave? My mom was brave after my dad was killed. She knew the troops were coming and she went out anyway because there were wounded out there. She wasn't political. She just wanted to make a difference." She bowed her head and Cass moved to sit on the bed beside her.

"I ask myself that sometimes. I am the only survivor from my gang." Lissandra stared at him in confusion and he shrugged. "Anyo's goons got sick of us outrunning them so they gassed us like feral Kubrow whenever they found our hideouts. It was only a matter of time until they got us all. One day, I was out grinding and when I got back, everyone was dead." Cass said quietly. Lissandra stared at him through streaming eyes and Cass sighed. "My parents were killed in a mining accident when I was four. Too small and scrawny to work, so, I joined the Vent Kids." Lissandra opened her mouth, closed it and then smiled a bit faintly. "What?" Cass asked.

"Do _you_ consider Skeg to be music?" Lissandra asked slyly and Cass groaned. "Hey, it is a valid question."

"You are bad, girl." Iriana said from where she stood and Lissandra jumped just a little. She stared at Iriana and frowned. "Yes?" The Healer asked.

"Where do I know you from?" Lissandra said slowly. "I know your voice, but not your face. You were kind. I was very confused when I woke." Her face flamed, but Iriana just smiled.

"No one is at their best waking up from anesthesia, Lissandra. Especially since we had to do some fairly hefty doses to keep you out for the surgery. I took no offense." Iriana reassured her and Lissandra relaxed. "I did introduce myself, but you were not tracking well so I doubt you remember. My name is Iriana."

"The name is familiar too." Lissandra mused. "But I don't know you. I… I think I should. You are memorable." She said weakly.

"Thank you." Iriana moved to the chair that Cass had been in and sat. "Were you on duty in the Clergy hospital when my daughter Mishka was injured?"

Lissandra stared at Iriana and then she stiffened. "Mishka G-52? Wait. You… _You_ were in the _MOA!_ " She gawped as realization dawned and Iriana smiled agreement.

"Yes, I was. It wasn't pleasant, but it was needed." Iriana reached out to take Lissandra's other hand. "You were called in?"

" _Everyone_ was. I removed the toxin once it was neutralized. We didn't know why the Reverend Mother was so frightened. Yes, Mishka G-52's injuries were very bad, but until the Reverend Mother explained, after the girl vanished with Mercedes and so many others… I didn't understand." Lissandra said weakly. "I couldn't help her but so much. I tried."

"You and the Clergy doctors saved her life." Iriana reassured the distraught girl. "She is alive, well and has a hard job that she is very good at. You helped her. She will be by at some point to talk to you. Probably to thank you in person. But if you get her started playing Skeg, you will have problems." She warned. " _Many_ people do not consider that music."

" _I_ do not consider Skeg music!" Lissandra agreed quickly.

"It was mostly a form of protest." Cass smiled at the two females as they stared at him. "Life bangs you up? You bang life up." He shrugged as both glared at him. "Hey! I was _nine_ when I left!"

"What am I going to do?" Lissandra begged. "I can't go back to Neptune! If Anyo knows..." She started to cry again and Cass gave her hand a squeeze.

"For right now? You are safe here. You do not need to go anywhere or do anything." Iriana promised. "You have been abused again and there are always costs to such. My recommendation is to rest for a bit, eat, and then do some gentle exercise. And..." She looked at Cass and her eyes seemed to prod him. He shook his head and her face set. "Sergeant." She growled.

"I was never interested, Healer." Cass said quietly. "Such was a means to an end for me after what I went though escaping from Venus. The Company required it, so I did what I had to, but I never enjoyed it and the girls knew it."

"Enjoyed what?" Lissandra stared at him and then her eyes widened." What happened to you?"

"Lots of things." Cass replied, looking away. "This is not about me..." He paused as Iriana slapped his arm with her free hand. Not hard, but enough to sting. "Healer!"

"This is about the _both_ of you." Iriana said firmly. She looked at Lissandra who nodded slowly. "You are nurse trained. You understand how the body works. Have you studied the mind?"

"Some." Lissandra said weakly. "I… I have had time to study, but there is a lot to learn." Iriana nodded with a small smile.

"Indeed there is and I bet you know just as I do that we will never know it all." The bedridden girl nodded soberly. "That said, we have options now that were denied us even a few short months ago." Iriana smiled at the girl's sudden confusion. "The sergeant is hurting and so are you. Both of you were thrown together into a horrible experience. You helped each other and you both care for each other." She held up a hand when Lissandra started to speak. "I know what happened to you and what you are now. And you know what? I don't _care!_ " She gave Lissandra's hand another squeeze as Lissandra stilled. "You are a good person, Lissandra. We Tenno understand horror firsthand. We know about living far longer than our peers." Lissandra stared at her and then burst into tears. "That is your worst fear, isn't it?"

"I don't want to outlive everyone I LOVE!" Lissandra sobbed through her tears. "I can't do that again! I am not strong enough!"

"So, you push everyone away. You figure that if you don't feel, it will hurt less." Iriana's tone hardened and Lissandra buried her face in her hands. "I won't let you do that to yourself, girl. I have been there."

"You?" Lissandra asked, her tear streaked face coming up to stare at the healer.

"Yes, me." Iriana sighed and relaxed. "You helped my daughter, so you know I have her." Lissandra nodded, mystified. "Her father left as soon as she was born. I only found out recently why and it is bad, but he left me to raise her alone. I was in love and he left." The Healer shook her head. "It hurt very badly and for a time, I withdrew from everyone, but my daughter needed me, so I came back." She looked at the floor. "It wasn't easy. What you face now is just as hard as what I did then. But you are not alone. The sergeant is here. I am here. I bet Mishka will feel the same way. We want to help. Killing you, while perhaps simpler, is not a good answer. You do not deserve that."

" _BUT I WANT IT!_ " Lissandra shouted and then sobbed hard.

Cass sighed and then moved to sit beside her. He pulled her up and held her as she cried. For her part. Iriana shifted until she could lay her hands on Lissandra's shoulders, giving what strength she could.

"No, you don't." Iriana said as her hands started to rub, soothing sore muscles, easing tightness. "You are tired, sick, hurting, all of that, but you do not want to die. You want your life to start making sense and your pain to go away. I am sorry I cannot help with that." She smiled at Cass who shifted uncomfortably. "I can help with this. You are going to have to take the lead. He won't."

"I don't know what to do." Lissandra said weakly. Iriana stared at her and Lissandra turned pleading eyes to the Healer. "I never… They let me use the machines since I can't have kids… I..."

"I see." Iriana sighed deeply and then nodded. "Sergeant, take off your shirt." That was not a suggestion.

"Ma'am!" Cass protested as Lissandra stared at her.

"I am a Healer. This is a wound that needs healing. You both have issues. I do not." Iriana replied. "I am not body shy after so many years working medicine. Neither of you have anything I haven't seen before in general anatomy sense, and you both are hurting." She glared at Cass. "Are you going to argue with me?"

"Don't!" Lissandra said quickly as Cass opened his mouth. "You didn't see what happened in the hospital. She walked right in, in a _MOA_ , and didn't take any crap from _anyone!_ " She stared at Iriana, fear and hope warring in her eyes. "I don't know, Healer. Part of me wants it. Part of me is terrified."

"The first time for real is always a bit scary." Iriana reassured her. "You worry if something will hurt, or break or stop, or whatever. Machines do make more sense, usually, but they cannot measure up to a trained partner." Her tone was gentle as she reached for the fasteners to Lissandra's patient gown. "Just relax and let us do the work. Okay? I guarantee you will enjoy this." She looked at Cass whose face was flaming. "So will you."

"If… If he doesn't want to..." Lissandra said weakly.

"Oh, he wants to." Iriana said with a slightly evil smile. Cass stared at her and her smile turned downright sly. "I am linked into the medical systems here. I can read your vitals, Sergeant. Elevated heart rate, increased blood flow to certain places… Need I go on?" Lissandra giggled at his expression.

"Tempted to hack those right now." Cass started, only to pause as Iriana shook her head.

"Don't." Iriana warned him. "The Tenno here do not trust _anyone_ from outside. If they lose vital scan downlink or it even fuzzes, you are likely to have three or four warframes run in with weapons drawn. They would not be polite in such a case."

"I don't want to hurt Lissandra." Cass said softly. "And anyone I care for gets hurt."

"She was already hurt, Sergeant." Iriana had Lissandra's gown loose now and held it in place with her fingers. "So are you. This might help you both start on the road to healing." She smirked as Lissandra stared at her. "Even if not? You are both far too tense."

"Lissandra." Cass would not meet her eyes.

"I am afraid." Lissandra said very softly. "But I know you won't hurt me."

"I never intend to hurt anyone but enemies, but I am no good at this interpersonal stuff." Cass replied, not moving at all.

"And how often have you practiced?" Iriana inquired. Cass shook his head, glowering at her but she was unfazed. She shook her head. "Don't make me get the Commander, or worse _the_ _Reverend Mother_ , in here to order you to do it. I will if I have to." That was a promise.

"I… This is wrong." Cass rose and started to undo his shirt.

"Very little about this situation is _right_." Iriana agreed. "But I can and will help you both. And look at it _this_ way…" Both of the humans stared at her as her grin widened. "Neither of you will have any difficulty sleeping after this."

"We are doomed, aren't we?" Lissandra asked Cass who sighed and nodded.

"Looks like it." Cass had his shirt off and was puzzled for a moment as to where to put it. He folded it neatly and laid it on the chair he had been in a minute before. Then he smiled. "But what a way to go!"

"You are _bad_ , sergeant!" Lissandra and Iriana chorused, but both smiled wide as Iriana released the gown and Lissandra held it up.

"Okay, children. Sex Ed 101." Iriana smiled as she slid back into the other chair on the other side of the bed. "Do I need to start at the _very_ beginning?" Both looked blank and she sighed. "As in 'boy humans and girl humans are different'?"

"Eh, no." Cass stammered as Lissandra gulped out a negative as well.

"Good." Iriana nodded to Cass and then at Lissandra. "This is a totally natural thing and a totally understandable thing. That said, this act and misconceptions about this act have caused more problems throughout human history than every single war put together." She shook her head as both looked baffled. "Any relationship that is meant to last more than a day has to include communication. Talk to each other. I don't care what you say. Just say something and _mean_ it."

"Ummm." Cass swallowed. "You are pretty." Lissandra flushed at the compliment and then she swallowed when he shut his mouth.

"I am afraid of what I will do." Lissandra said to both of them. "I mean… The tech inside me is all bio-tech. It isn't anything that I can stop."

"I bet you can." Iriana reassured her. The girl stared at her and Iriana shrugged. "You don't have tubes sprouting out of you all of the time so it stands to reason that the nutcase who did this planned on some kind of control. Either you or some external control."

"I just lay down beside someone who is hurt and it happens." Lissandra said weakly "When I lie down beside someone who is not, nothing happens."

"Well, that is good." Iriana said and then glowered at Cass who clamped his mouth shut. "One word about tentacle porn and I will hurt you."

"I was never into _that!_ " Cass said savagely enough that both women stared at him. He slumped a bit, turning away.

"Sergeant?" Lissandra rose from the bed, ignoring the gown that fell off her. "What is wrong?" She reached for him and stiffened as she touched him. "You are shivering. Why are you…? Oh no." She snarled at herself and pulled him close. "Whatever it was, it is _over_."

"No it is not." Cass said in a monotone. "The guy… The rail agent whose ship I stowed away on to get away… He _was_ into that. Full sensory holographic pornography, preferably with the… tentacles. He was overjoyed when he found me, enslaved me. I was perfect for his 'shows'." He was breathing hard as Lissandra hugged him tight.

"A nine year old." Iriana breathed, horrified. "Damn those Corpus scum! Damn them _all!_ "

"How did you get away?" Lissandra begged, leading Cass to the bed.

"Didn't." Cass swallowed hard as she sat him down. "He sold me to… To the crime syndicate who used me to hack things. They… They kept me in line… I..."

"I see." Iriana sighed and rose, moving to stand by the pair as Cass shuddered and Lissandra crooned to him. "Then you _both_ need to see how pleasant such can be. To erase the old, bad memories and replace them with new, pleasant ones." She laid a hand on Cass' arm and power flared from her fingers. He gasped and relaxed. "All that does is push them back a bit, sergeant. They won't go away, especially not if you really become a Cyberlancer. But if you have better memories, newer ones..."

"They will take the place of the bad." Lissandra finished when Iriana trailed off. She hugged Cass tight. "What say we _both_ tell the Corpus what they do with their horror, Sergeant?"

"Please call me 'Cass'." The man said as Lissandra reached for his pants.

"One thing, then Cass." Lissandra said very quietly as she laid Cass down on the bed. "Is the one who did that to you dead?"

" _Yes._ " Cass said flatly. He was clearly not expecting Lissandra to smile and kiss him. "What?"

"Good. Then I don't have to kill him myself." Lissandra kissed him again and whatever he was going to say was cut off as Iriana smiled.

"I may not have to teach much at all." Iriana smirked as Lissandra made a rude gesture at her. "You are a natural."

* * *

Several hours later

It had been a night to remember. Both Cass and Lissandra were exhausted, but both were energized as well. Sleep wasn't coming for them. Instead, they sat and talked for quite a while after the healer had been called away. Neither wanted to sully the wonderful memories with inexpert fumbling. Both wore sleeping garments now, but neither wanted to sleep. Both had shared things that they hadn't shared with anyone else expect psychiatrists, and both felt much better after a night of pleasure and in each other's company.

That said, Cass _was_ a veteran of combat, so when something flashed nearby, he grabbed Lissandra despite her shriek and covered her with his own body as the flash of purple energy faded. Both humans stared at the small lavender hologram that stood in one corner. _The holographic lavender Kavat!_

 _Don't be like that._ Liriel, the Cyberlancer Queen of Cats, said in her non-verbal way. Cass stared at her, eyes huge as her lavender code swept around the room. _This is just to keep everyone else from butting in. We need to talk._

"Yeah." Cass gulped. "I think we do."


	8. Chapter 8

**Boarding**

(At just about the same time)

The Reverend Mother looked grim when Tenno Rachel entered the room the nun was staying in. It hadn't been long at all since the Clergywoman had called. Rachel was busy, but this situation was unprecedented in recent memory. The room was as comfortable as Tenno rooms ever got. The woman within was _anything_ but comfortable, both with this situation and with more.

"Reverend Mother? You asked to see me?" Rachel asked when the Reverend Mother rose and gave her a half bow in the Tenno style. Stood to reason. She had once been Tenno. Now? She was an enigma a lot of the time and Rachel clearly wasn't happy with her presence but it had been needed. Rachel hadn't been happy having _any_ humans in the service of the Corpus here, but again, this whole situation was a mess.

"I need to go." The nun said with a growl. "Anyo has called a Board meeting. Almost certainly to demand Lissandra." Rachel stilled but the Clergywoman shook her head. "It isn't going to happen. What _will_ happen is a godawful mess when everyone with grudges against us lines up behind him to take shots at us. I have to attend that meeting or he will do far more damage."

"You didn't want to leave before talking to Lissandra.' Rachel unbent a little. "Iriana didn't say anything, but she looked pleased." She shook her head. "Actually, she looked more than pleased. Roger didn't say anything, but he looked pleased too."

"If they are not safe here, then there is nowhere even possibly safe." The Reverend Mother sighed and relaxed a bit. "I am sorry. I did want to stay and talk to Lissandra, but her comfort comes first. I will wait until she leaves and talk to her then."

Rachel had been adamant that this would be the only time that the Reverend Mother would be allowed in the Citadel. To Rachel's mind, the Clergywoman wasn't 'quite' a traitor, but she was not Tenno anymore and the Corpus were enemies, so…

"That may be a while." Rachel's voice was soft now, concerned. Then again, she liked Lissandra too. Most people who met her did. The Reverend Mother glared at her, but the younger woman's heart wasn't really in it. Rachel shrugged. "The Elders are debating. I bet Eliza and her people are too. You know I won't chain her to a wall or anything, no matter how much some people may carry on. Roger and Suno both expressed some displeasure at various groups insistence on talking to her."

"I knew it would get out." The Reverend Mother said sadly. "Lissandra deserves better than that, but I do not think I can give it to her. Perhaps you can."

"No matter what, _all_ the Healers have formed ranks in support of Lissandra." Rachel reassured the nun. "Iriana is bad enough when she gets angry, but now, Suno and Roger are both standing with her. The _less_ said about what the Caretakers said to me, the better." She actually shuddered. "And to think I once wanted this job."

"Leadership may have its perks." The Reverend Mother agreed. "But it also has its burdens. Did you ever determine what exactly, the girl was programmed with? The sergeant was not programmed. The few records that were recovered did not say what was intended beyond installing him in a Raptor." Rage sang in her tone, but it was squelched. "Not that such wouldn't have been bad enough."

"No." Rachel admitted. "Iriana could see the alterations, but not determine what was intended. She repaired what she could, disabled the rest. Brianna has offered her aid and I am contemplating ways to get Lissandra to her since most of Brianna's strength lies in the tower and she cannot leave it easily." The Reverend Mother stiffened and Rachel nodded. "I know."

'Anywhere that the girl goes..." The Clergywoman said slowly. "If Hayden can get out of that trap the Cyberlancers tossed him into..." She trailed off.

"He will find her and take her." Rachel completed the thought with a growl. "I know. I would have called…" She paused, shook her head and spoke carefully. "... _Galina_ in to determine what happened and why, but no one has seen her energy. I hope she isn't gone, but I fear she is."

"And I fear what will happen without her moderating influence on the others." The Reverend Mother said quietly and Rachel nodded. "I have to go. If you can? Please give Lissandra my love?" She asked, eyes glistening. "I personally may deserve all the hate and scorn that are heaped on me, but she did not deserve this. Any of it."

Something in her tone clearly bothered the warframe clad Tenno. Then again, few people knew who The Reverend Mother had been before she had assumed the role. There were still stories told about her in dark places, making monsters fear the darkness. A bit of caution was justified.

"What are you going to do?" Rachel asked slowly.

"Like you and others, I am going to do whatever I have to in order protect my people." The Reverend Mother started for the door, only to pause as Rachel barred her way. "I have no quarrel with you, Tenno Rachel." The Clergywoman said quietly. "Nor do I wish one. But what Anyo did cannot stand."

"If you could talk to them from here, would you?" Rachel asked and the Clergywoman stared at her. "Hypothetically."

"If I did, I would put you and yours at risk. They will track the transmission. They always do, trying to seek me out. There are as many reasons as there are Board members." The Reverend Mother shrugged. "I won't do that. You are focused on the outbreaks of the Technocyte Virus. Something that is desperately needed right now."

"No, you won't." Rachel had a smile in her voice as the world fell away. Suddenly, both were standing in a room that looked very much like a Corpus control center. The Reverend Mother stared around and then at Rachel, whose garb morphed into a nun's habit, much like hers. Her long dark hair plaited itself in a conservative style as she folded her hands properly. The screens lit up with information that the Reverend Mother hissed as she recognized. Corpus communication frequencies!

"How?" The Clergywoman asked. "This is accessing every Corpus… Oh." She smiled a bit sadly. "Jesse."

"Among others." Rachel smiled at the Clergywoman. "I have to stay to monitor, but they won't track _this._ "

"I know better than to ask. I am going to say and do things that bother you." The Reverend Mother warned as she touched a holographic display and it lit up to show her credentials being scanned. "They bother _me_."

"If you are going to do what I think you are going to do, you will need an official witness that the Board cannot bribe, blackmail or threaten into silence." Rachel replied with a nod. The Reverend Mother looked at her and Rachel shrugged again. "I know vengeance when I see it."

"'Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord'." The Reverend Mother sank to her knees and folded her hands in prayer. Rachel did not interrupt as the Clergywoman spoke under her breath head bowing. Several screens flashed to life, each showing a Corpus executive's head. Then a familiar hated voice had both the Tenno and the Clergywoman stiffened.

"Ah, I see the Void has chastised you for your crime." Nef Anyo gloated from another screen. He paused as the Reverend Mother rose to her feet, ignoring him to eye a screen marked 'Chairman Pro-Tem'.

"You asked my presence, Chairman. I am here." The Reverend Mother's tone was calm. Oddly calm. As if she was controlling herself tighter than usual.

"Nef Anyo has requested the return of stolen property." The Chairman looked worried?

"Indeed." The Reverend Mother's reply was still calm.

"By the Void, you will-" Anyo started, only to pause as the Chairman sighed. "She will pay." The Reverend Mother ignored him again!

"Reverend Mother." The Chairman was wary. He knew her and her moods better than most. He also knew what she could do. "He called this meeting. He says you took two of his employees."

"Did I now?" The Reverend Mother tilted her head as if in thought. "That is odd. He didn't do this when his evangelist scum got they deserved."

"You had no right to do that!" Anyo snapped. "The Void knows it own and you will pay for your crimes." She ignored him _again!_

"Reverend Mother..." The Chairman tried. "If a crime has been committed by the Clergy..." He made a face. "You are not supposed to do things like that."

"Yes, I know." The Clergywoman sighed deeply. "It isn't a crime to steal credits from employees as long as _Anyo_ does it." The Chairman stiffened and she continued. "It isn't a crime to steal a new mother's life savings as long as he and his morons do it." She shook her head. "I do believe that a person's faith is their own as long as they follow the Company Guidelines. Profit numbs the feeling, but under Profit, we may believe as we will. I had no right to bar Anyo's fool from the facility _until_ he stole from one of the mothers. She did _not_ give him access to her account and he took her entire savings _anyway_." At that, the Chairman recoiled and the Reverend Mother nodded as Rachel looked grim. "I know that Anyo says he has the right to do anything he wants, since the Void says he can, but still..." She trailed off and the Chairman shook his head.

"That is not within the Guidelines. That was never reported." The Chairman glared at Anyo who did not react.

"For good reason." The Reverend Mother agreed. "The transaction was stopped before he could make off with her credits and the thief was dealt with."

"The Void know what you did!" Anyo snapped. 'You had no right to mutilate our faithful!" More than one set of eyebrows went up at that and more went up when she ignored him yet again!

"I…" The Chairman actually slumped. "I don't want to know, do I?" His tone was long suffering.

"He got lynched." The Reverend Mother shrugged as the Chairman goggled at her."Say what you will about pregnant women, angering a mob of them is a bad idea. We saved his life, but not his genitals. It was bad enough when all Anyo was doing was spamming the holo-channels and inboxes." She shook her head. "I guess he never read clause Eight Seven Gamma Six of the Communication Guidelines." More than one of the watchers gulped at that as she finally turned to Anyo and her face was cool, remote. "You might want to read that. You might want to see the penalties for spam telemarketing to Company personnel before you try that again. If you _ever_ spam _my_ inbox with your holo crap again, I _will_ tear off your beard and _beat_ you to death with it. I will be perfectly justified to do so."

 _That_ was _not_ calm! Rachel was hardly the only one to look worried as darkness reared its ugly head in the Reverend Mother's tone but then she forced herself to relax and everyone else did.

"Ah..." The Chairman swallowed hard. "That is not what this meeting is about." He tried to steer it back and the Reverend Mother shrugged.

"Burning at the stake is also fully justified for telemarketers who do not understand the word 'No'." The Reverend Mother said with a sigh. "I am held to a higher standard unfortunately. But… I do know why he called this meeting. Do you?"

"He says that you stole two of his employees." The Chairman said slowly. "A Cee-24 and a Lissa H-12."

"I do not know those names." The Reverend Mother replied. "I have no one in my employment by those names. _When_ did I supposedly steal them from this _telemarketer_?" Heavy irony sang in her question and more than one of the holographic faces twitched as if fighting smiles as Anyo choked.

"Your people cordoned off the facility!" Anyo snapped. "The Void knows you took them!" Again, she ignored him!

"Reverend Mother..." The Chairman sighed. "We are trying to keep this from becoming a conflict."

"You are too late." The Reverend Mother replied calmly and everyone stilled.

"What?" The Chairman asked as almost every single Board Member suddenly looked worried! Anyo did not, he was busy ranting.

"I know what he has said." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "I have been briefed on his rants. C-24, a male soldier." Not a question. "Lissa H-12, a female nurse. Those names are not known to me but the people he describes are."

"By the Void, you _admit-!_ Anyo cut himself off as the Chairman snarled at him.

" _Shut up,_ Anyo!" The Chairman snapped. "Before you start a _war!_ "

"He has." At the Reverend Mother's soft words, the Chairman paled. "The man's name is actually Cass. Sergeant Cass of the Corpus Special Forces. He was abducted from his barracks, experimented on and intended to become the cyborg controller of a new type of Raptor."

"He… He _what?_ " That came form Frohd Bek of all people! "No! No, he _didn't!_ "

Then again, he knew first hand just how expensive angering the Special Forces got. Many of the Board did, but Bek more than most. He also knew what happened when anyone tried to restart the C&C MOA program. Expensive didn't _begin_ to cover it when Tenno got involved. Even Bek had learned not to do that. It had taken a while.

"He was stopped from doing that but just barely. The sergeant will likely not survive." The Reverend Mother replied when the Chairman looked at her. "That pales beside the other, however."

"The girl accepted enlightenment!" Anyo sneered. "You cannot change that!" He broke off as her glare pinned him.

"And _you_ cannot change the fact that mercenaries that _you_ hired stole her from one of _my_ breeding colonies."

A pin dropping might have sounded like a Grineer Galleon's broadside in the sudden silence that fell.

"He… He _**what?**_ " The Chairman asked, even paler. Was he about to _faint?_ "Are you _**insane?**_ " He demanded of Anyo. He paused and then sighed. "Of course you are. You _moron_."

"He wanted the girl and was going to launch a full scale assault." The Reverend Mother replied. "Who cares that it would have triggered Company wide warfare?" She shook her head as the Chairman gaped at her and Anyo started to rant. She muted his feed and all the others stared at her. "A third party intervened, snatched the girl and the sergeant to keep such from happening and then gave them to him. I do not know why, but rest assured, I _will_ find out."

"Reverend Mother..." The Chairman swallowed hard. "If he _did_ … If he violated the sanctity of the breeding colony..."

"It has been moved." The Reverend Mother reassured him. "The security has also been beefed up. As we are not allowed fleets and armies, we fight as we can. From the shadows. He will _not_ enjoy the Holy War he has begun."

"Reverend Mother! _No!_ " The Chairman all but screamed that! "We can _fix_ this!"

"Can you?" The Clergywoman growled. "You are all about Profit. Every one of you is about Profit. Profit numbs the feeling. I know. I even accept that most of the time, but _I_ am about the survival of our race! If we all _die_ , what does it _matter_ how rich we are when it happens? He doesn't care about such. I do."

"You cannot threaten me, woman!" Anyo somehow had his feed back. "The Void will show you the True Way!"

" _Will_ it?" The Reverend Mother turned and smiled as Commander Horatius appeared in the virtual environment. "Commander? Time?"

"Time." The Commander saluted her!

Everyone stilled again as Anyo's feed fuzzed and then stabilized. He stared at her. "What have you done?" The nutcase demanded.

"I am afraid the main Index broadcast station you had in Neptune orbit just ran afoul of a Grineer task force." The Reverend Mother smiled, and everyone shuddered as Death itself seemed to smile at them. "Odd. The ships didn't show up on our sensors. We will need to calibrate again, it seems, Commander." He nodded with a matching smile.

"Your lies fall flat, woman!" Anyo snorted. "There are a thousand people on-"

"Were." The Commander interrupted and _everyone_ froze. The Reverend Mother shook her head, her face sad. "There _were_ a thousand beings on that station. Of which, three hundred and six were your employees. The others?" He shrugged. "Some chose to flee. Others chose to renegotiate their contracts. Three hundred and six chose to join your Void." Now? His smile might have frightened a Tenno! "They won't be alone long."

"You dare." Anyo said softly, incredulous.

"I could say the same about you." The Reverend Mother shrugged as all of the other Board members started talking at once. The Chairman demanded order and they subsided.

"Reverend Mother! Don't do this!" The part time leader of the Corpus begged and she shook her head.

"The Guidelines are painfully clear on this." The Reverend Mother said flatly. "The breeding colonies are _not_ to be touched. Period. Anyone who does, faces Holy War. So, thus I declare Holy War on Nef Anyo, his holdings, his personnel. All of his assets are valid targets for our Crusade. We will act as we can to end this as quickly as we can. Anyone _else_ who wishes to face our Crusade is _welcome to_." She snarled the last. "I am _done_ putting up with your filth, ignoring your filth! I am _done_ letting you scum hurt my people and get away with it! I _will_ protect humanity _._ From _anyone_ who threatens it. Outside the Company, or _inside._ You have no _idea_ how many you angered, Anyo. Not just _us_." Rachel nodded, silent.

"The girl is mine!" Anyo shouted.

"Oh, do shut up." The Reverend Mother nodded to the Commander who snapped his fingers and the Anyo's hologram winked out! "Really?" she inquired, calming. "That was… A bit dramatic for you, don't you think?"

"What can I say?" Horatius shrugged. "Married life agrees with me." The Clergywoman snickered at that and relaxed.

"Please tell me you didn't just kill him!" The Chairman begged.

"He is far too well protected to be a short term target." Horatius was _not_ saying that Anyo was _not_ a target. "Several of his communication satellites and facilities just suffered misfortunes." The Chairman winced and Horatius continued. "Not all exploded. They are Company assets, after all. Some have simply been jammed, hacked and then redistributed." Before anyone relaxed, he smirked. "Three did explode."

"Reverend Mother! _Please!_ " The Chairman begged, but Frohd Bek of all people spoke up.

"She is within her rights." Bek said quietly. "Within the Guidelines. He started it."

"And we will _finish_ it." The Reverend Mother promised. "The human race _will_ continue. _Any_ of you who wish to side with him against our Crusade, feel free! Take shots at us, please! You will _not_ destroy us and we _will_ destroy you! You will never see Death coming!"

"No!" The Chairman snapped as everyone looked at him. "No one else will interfere! That is a Company wide edict! This is between the _Clergy_ and _Anyo_. No one else!" That was a statement and a warning. He shook his head. "Even as it is, this is going to be bad."

"Oh, we haven't seen bad yet, Chairman." The Reverend Mother's smile might have turned out the Sun!

"But it is coming."


	9. Chapter 9

**Magic and Faith**

Lissandra was openly gawking at the holographic Kavat, but Cass sat up, moving to shield her slightly for all the good that would do against a being like this. What little he knew about the Queen of Cats was frankly terrifying. She could kill _Tenno_. Humans had no chance against her. Luckily, she seemed more amused than wary.

 _Before anything else_ _is_ _said…_ Liriel was calm and quiet. _I was briefed. Jesse pulled no punches when she explained what happened._ She turned to Lissandra. _You have my sympathy,_ _human Lissandra_ _. Such burdens as you bear can crush any. Tenno, human or other, what_ _happened to you_ _could destroy any of them. That you are as sane as you are is a testament to your spirit._ She bowed her head to Lissandra who gulped. When the Kavat looked at Cass, her demeanor was stern. _As for you?_ _The answer is and always will be 'No'. I do not kill those who do not attack me or mine. If she were terminally ill, my mind might change, but she is not. She will not attack us, so I will not harm her._ _Add to that? We may need her peculiar ability someday._ Lissandra wilted and the Kavat nodded. _It is not kindness and I know. If it were up to me, I would probably consider alleviating your suffering. It is not. I cannot focus on my own desires now. I must see the bigger picture._

"She has suffered enough." Cass said quietly. Lissandra hugged him, not put off at all by what was said. They understood each other very well.

 _Life is pain, human Cass._ Liriel replied. _What is life without pain?_ Cass bowed his head and Lissandra spoke.

"I wish I knew." Lissandra said weakly. "All I had was hope and now? That hope has fled."

 _I am no Oracle to see potential futures._ Liriel replied. _Your life has changed, but you are still alive. Someone wise once wrote, '_ _W_ _here there is life, there is hope'. You are alive, child. And now? You have found some small comfort. I am happy for you._ She smiled as only a Kavat could. _That said, I must speak to your paramour._

"Should I go then?" Lissandra didn't want to leave, that was clear. She was also respectful. "I know about secrets, having lived with the Clergy."

 _No._ Liriel reassured her. _What we will speak of is less secret than obscure. There are few today who understand anything at all about Cyberlancers. Small wonder many call us 'magicians'._

"I have called what they do that." Cass admitted. "It seems far more like manipulation of otherworldly energy than any science I can comprehend."

 _That is true._ The Kavat allowed. _But it also obeys most laws of physics._ Her grin was wide. _Not all._

"From what I have studied and what little I have seen, there was much Orokin science that defied much of what we today know of as physical law." Cass shook his head. "And... I can do that now. I am becoming a Cyberlancer."

 _Yes._ Liriel replied.

"Not by choice." The soldier slumped and Lissandra hugged him again.

 _No._ Liriel heaved a deep sigh. _The being who became the First Cyberlancer feared such an event. There were many who attempted to counter her power. I am the result of one such attempt. Hence why Jesse suggested I speak to you. I know what it is to wake up and suddenly have my world utterly changed. I am not human, so my views will not be human views, but I do understand some of what has happened if not why. I have a certain amount of empathy, both for you becoming what you are and because you serve_ _in_ _a force that saved three of my kittens._

"I was not involved in that." Cass wasn't arguing. Not quite. He was not worried about himself. He was worried about Lissandra whose fear had spiked again. He hugged her gently and she returned it.

 _Six Corpus Special Forces soldiers placed themselves between three gravely ill, injured kittens and an entire_ **ship** _full of hostiles who wished th_ _ose kittens_ _enslaved._ Liriel replied, a touch of ice in her tone. _Do you think I_ **care** _if you were there personally?_

"Not when you put it like that, no." Cass smiled a bit. "That said, all most of us would ask is a safe place to sleep and maybe a meal. We are not in it for Profit, although we have to fake that."

"You are not?" Lissandra asked and then quailed as both Cass and Liriel looked at her. "Sorry."

"We are supposed to be." Cass hugged her close to him and he could feel her confusion, but also her trust in the way she snuggled close. "But we are not. Our duty is to the Company, but it isn't just that. We also have a duty to the human race and to the Clergy." He made a face. "It makes our lives fairly complicated at times."

 _Complications are a fact of life._ Liriel agreed. _There will be more._ She paused and then heaved a sigh. _And now? Things just got far worse._ Both humans stared at her and she sighed. _I am here with Rachel's authorization. I asked to speak to you in private and she allowed it, but she is watching and she was keeping me informed. Is keeping me informed._

"I didn't think you liked the Tenno." Cass said slowly.

 _I don't._ Liriel's reply was flat. _I neither like nor trust them, but you will need help. The other Cyberlancers are too busy or too far away. I am closer and slightly less busy. They asked my aid and while I do not trust Tenno,_ _my fellow Cyberlancers_ _have never played me false and they are just as angry about what happened as I am. Both to me and to you._

"What are my options?" Cass asked. "I mean, everyone says this cannot be stopped."

 _It cannot._ Liriel replied. _You are changing as surely as the girl beside you was changed. What happens next is up to you and no one else._ _Today, due in no small part to what I have done_ _, people remember what happens when any try to brainwash Cyberlancers. That is why you_ _two_ _were_ _put_ _together. To give her someone to love and you someone to help._ _To keep you both under control._ _Everything that was done to you was intended_ _b_ _y_ _Nef_ _Anyo and the First Tenno._

"How do you know that?" Lissandra asked, her face tightening. "You were not there."

 _The Sentients that came to your aid downloaded a number of interesting files before they were attacked by the First Tenno._ Liriel replied. _Marlena contacted me, since I have a bit of contact with her Mother. Trust will not happen, but they know how I feel about such things. Your psychological profiles were in those files along with all of the interrogation data they got._ Cass stiffened anew and Liriel nodded to him. _Corpus know how to get past Corpus anti-interrogation protocols._ _They did not get everything They did not know of your shared past. Nor did they care._ _The basic plan of action is there as well. It is_ _quite_ _disturbing._ She admitted.

"This doesn't make sense!" Cass said with a growl. "What good is a Cyberlancer brain stuck in a machine?"

 _It was done once._ Liriel replied and Cass paled. _It was the closest anyone has ever come to enslaving one of our kind. They failed due to Lynn and Ariana, but they came very close. Far too close for comfort._

"Lynn." Cass said softly. "And…? You…?" He trailed off as Liriel gave a feline shrug.

 _I still hate her and likely always will._ Liriel replied. _That said? S_ _he did give up everything_ _she was, everything she believed_ _for her kids. I can_ _respect_ _that and I have absolved her of the debt she owed me for the deaths of my kittens._ Lissandra gasped and Liriel looked at her. _What the Tenno called Trinity did can never be forgiven or forgotten, but Lynn is not that one._ _Not anymore._ _I may never stop hating her but_ _I can move on. I must. My people need me._

"I am sorry." Lissandra said sadly. "We were involved in some way. I only heard bits of that. I was never fully connected to the Clergy. It never worked for long before I filtered the nanites out."

 _That is what Anyo and the First Tenno were apparently counting on._ Liriel replied. _That_ _since you were not technically a full part of them,_ _the Clergy would not respond as_ _they ha_ _ve_ _in the past_ _to your disappearance from_ _a_ _place that they consider sacrosanct._ _A place that_ _the_ **rest** _of the Corpus learned to leave alone._

"They won't ow that they know I exist." Lissandra said in a tiny voice. "I am too valuable."

 _T_ _hey didn't._ Liriel replied and her tone was cold now. _As I said, Rachel has kept me informed._ _Anyo just demanded you and the Reverend Mother's response was to declare 'Holy War'._

At that, both humans gasped. Lissandra buried her face in her hands. Cass just stared at the Kavat and then he slumped a bit.

"Oh." Cass said softly. "That is not good."

 _A small_ _understatement there, human._ Liriel had a firm grasp of human sarcasm it seemed. _The_ **only** _good news is that the_ **rest** _of the Corpus will back away from both sides quickly. A cursory glance at the publicly available history of the Clergy shows that is not a good idea to push them that far._ _There are three documented times it has happened in the public files. I assume there were more that did not make the public files._

"Probably." Cass sighed deeply and hugged Lissandra. "They do secrets like no one else I have met but Tenno. Nef Anyo may be rich, powerful, insane, all of that but even _he_ has to know he cannot win in such a case." He shuddered. "The Clergy have no sense of humor about such things and information is their chief weapon. He cannot win against them."

"I am sure he thinks he can offer some money or resources to smooth it over." Lissandra said very quietly. "But the Reverend Mother will not accept such. I think she likes me, but that pales beside the trespass."

 _Such an affront cannot be allowed to prosper_ _or their authority will suffer, true_ _._ Liriel agreed. _Much as I dislike your agency for what it has done and not done, the Corpus Clergy is a check on the unbridled power and avarice of the Corpus._ Liriel shook her head. _I need to talk to your paramour in a way that will look as if we are doing nothing for quite some time._

"I... I don't have anywhere else to go and I really hate being alone." Lissandra said sadly. Then she paused as Liriel smiled at her. "What?" The human asked.

 _You will not be alone._ The Kavat queen said with look at Cass who frowned. _You are both vulnerable. You are both hurting and valuable to many. I find that like the Reverend Mother, I like you, young Lissandra._ The Kavat looked away for a moment. _That is not always a good thing._

"No." Lissandra agreed and then gave a yip of surprise as something flashed into existence on the bed beside her. She stared at the Kubrow egg and then at Liriel who nodded to her.

 _Go on._ Liriel reassured the suddenly wary girl. _Cass and I need to talk._ _A_ _nd you? You do not deserve to face your fate alone._

"I don't know if I can feed or house _myself!_ " Lissandra protested. "Let alone a companion!"

"The bond between companions is one of sharing." Cass said very quietly. "Sharing life as well as risk." Liriel looked at him and he bowed his head. "As a child… I had a companion. A Virmink. He died with my family."

 _As you say, Lissandra does not deserve what happened to her._ Liriel stepped forward and she was glowing lavender and Cass started to glow softly blue. _There are limits to my power, but within those limits, I can act._ She smiled at Lissandra. _You do not seem the type to abuse companions._

"No." Lissandra said weakly as the Kavat stepped up onto the bed. Cass lay down and the holographic Kavat stepped up onto him to curl up on his chest. Both closed their eyes and the energy that surrounded them faded. Lissandra stared from them to the egg. She sighed. "I should have asked what to do."

She stilled as another voice answered her! A young female voice! But silent!

 _Mistress need not do anything._ Lissandra's eyes bulged as the egg cracked and a tiny furred head peeked out of it at her. Its fur was mottled brown and gray and it had some kind of blue-gray markings on its face as it looked at her. Was that a Lotus symbol? The tiny Kubrow looked at Lissandra and then the shell cracked further. It stepped out of the shell and stood up on wobbly legs. She took a step towards Lissandra who gave a small cry as the Kubrow tangled her legs and fell.

Lissandra caught her and held the canine gently as the barely born Kubrow looked up at her with wide eyes. Eyes that held far more intelligence that Lissandra had ever imagined. The compassion in those eyes had Lissandra fighting tears. She was drowning in those eyes. The tiny Kubrow nestled closer to Lissandra as the human stared at her, pulling the furred being into her lap almost absently.

 _You need not fear._ The Kubrow spoke again as she nuzzled Lissandra's face. _I am here, Mistress. You will never need fear_ _being alone_ _again while I am here._

"I don't understand." Lissandra said weakly as the unconditional love in the other's voice soothed her aching soul. She could do little but sit and hold the tiny Kubrow.

 _I am yours, and you are mine._ The puppy said firmly. _When I am grown, I will protect you and you will protect me._ Lissandra had to smile as the puppy's tone turned sour. _But I have to grow first._

"Do you have a name?" Lissandra asked, nuzzling the soft fur. She was rewarded with a sound that was not quite a bark or a growl. More a rumble of contentment.

 _I was just born, Mistress._ The puppy said with a snort. _How could I have a name when I hadn't even met you yet?_ _You can call me whatever you want._

"Then..." Lissandra sighed as she relaxed for the first time since Liriel had appeared. "I think I will call you 'Lilly'. I knew a very brave and strong woman by that name once. She perished." She cradled the puppy close as tears threatened.

 _I do not know if I can protect you, Mistress, but I am here._ The puppy tried to reassure her. _You are not alone and I do like the name._ She nuzzled Lissandra's face and Lissandra smiled at her.

"I am glad, Lilly." Lissandra sighed deeply and then sat back. "Now… I need to learn a lot it seems. What do Kubrow eat and are you housebroken?" Her eyes twinkled as Lilly groaned.

 _I think this is going to be interesting._ The puppy laughed. _At least we won't be bored._

"No joke." Lissandra sat and started petting her new companion.

* * *

Back in the virtual world

"No deals will be accepted."

Rachel was hardly the only person in the virtual environment to jerk back at the Reverend Mother's cold reply. Horatius was gone, leaving her and Rachel to face the Board, all of whom but Anyo looked decidedly nervous. Hard to blame them, really. Anyo was a nut, but facing another religious fanatic with the sheer power of the Clergy behind her? Ouchtime.

"Reverend Mother, _please!_ " The Chairman was trying. Rachel had to admit, the man was trying to keep the peace. A peace that had failed. "Whatever he did, he did not use his own forces! It cannot be proven that he did it."

"Are you _really_ trying to argue that his lab that the pair were rescued from was intended as _humanitarian?_ " The Reverend Mother did not bother to hide her scorn and everyone winced. Well, all but one. Anyo was ranting again and she had muted his feed again. "I never said that his soldiers stole them. His goons did not take them. His _hired mercenaries_ did." She corrected grimly. "One of which we _have_. As soon as she wakes, we will speak with her. If we are in a good mood, we may even share what we learn. We may not."

Her tone left little to the imagination as to what the Clergy would do to said prisoner. It would likely involve pain.

"Ah..." The chairman swallowed hard. "Reverend Mother, you of all people know the costs of such things. We cannot allow this kind of warfare to continue. The costs-"

" _I_ know the costs better than anyone else here." The Reverend Mother actually interrupted him. "Now tell me: Do I _care_ about Company Profit right now?" She demanded, her tone about as warm as the outer surface of an asteroid mine. The Chairman looked at her and then he slumped a bit.

"No." The Chairman said quietly. "No, you don't." The Reverend Mother nodded, her face grim. " _We_ have to. We have to limit the damage as best we can."

"Yes, you have to." The Reverend Mother unbent just a little, but not much. "According to the Guidelines, we -The Clergy -cannot kill _him_. Everyone _else_ in his employ is fair game." Her smile when Anyo managed to regain control of his feed was more feral than friendly.

"She is not one of you!" Anyo finally woke to the peril. Just a little bit too late! "You cannot declare such for one who is not a member of your order!"

"Oh?" The Reverend Mother inquired in a very quiet, dangerous voice. "So, after interrogating her and _failing_..." She snarled that. "...to brainwash her, you didn't bother looking further, did you? You thought 'Hey, I can have this now and no one can touch me'. But we can and we will. Because she _is_ one of us. She took vows and did every test. She passed. She is a member of our order. You took her and hurt her. You will pay for that."

"She is a miracle!" Anyo all but screamed. "One you deny us!"

"She is a traumatized girl!" The Reverend Mother's scream, by comparison, was cold and merciless. "She is not your plaything any more than she is mine! She is out of my reach just as she is out of yours!" At that, everyone stiffened. But she wasn't done. When she smiled, it held little mirth. "And you know the really funny thing? The absolutely _hilarious_ thing?"

"You will not deny her to me!" Anyo snapped. "The Void has called her! You will tell me where she is and we will collect her! The Void demands it!"

"That will be hard for your Void. It would be hard even for me." The Reverend Mother actually chuckled at his expression. "Since the 'mercenaries' you hired to kidnap her were not _human_." A sudden silence fell at her words and she turned to the Chairman who had actually fallen out of view for a moment. "He never _asked_. They simply said they could and he paid them a great deal to do it. I will talk to the one who is in custody, but no matter what else happens, I am within my rights to settle this debt that lies between The Clergy and Nef Anyo."

"Reverend Mother..." The Chairman was almost green now. He visibly forced himself to calm. "That is true." He didn't want it to be, that was abundantly clear. "What…? What will you do?"

"I read the report of what he tried to brainwash her with." The Reverend Mother said in that same deadly voice. "He tried to get her to believe she was his daughter." Everyone glared at Anyo who was all but frothing at the mouth. "He stole a daughter from us. I think turnabout is fair play."

"You cannot threaten me!" Anyo screamed. "You cannot kill me! I am-" His voice cut off again.

"I am not going to kill you. Such a massive economic disruption would be very bad for our Company no matter the provocation." The Reverend Mother had cut his feed again! When she turned back to the others, they all shuddered at what was in her expression. "But what I, we, _will_ do? Here and now, before all these witnesses? I give you all my word, Nef Anyo."

"...We will not _kill_ your son."


	10. Chapter 10

**Conflicts of capital**

"We cannot allow this."

The Reverend Mother was tired, that was clear to anyone with eyes. She had been very quiet after Rachel had brought her back to the Citadel. Rachel hadn't said a word and the Reverent Mother had known that the elder Tenno was upset by this. Both by what had been done and by _how_ it had been done. But it was not Rachel who spoke. Saying that Elder Mavri was upset did not do his emotions _justice_.

"You cannot stop it, Elder." The Reverend Mother sat, a steaming cup of tea in her hands. The First did not get many human visitors, but they _did_ remember the rules of hospitality. "This is an internal Corpus matter and it should not bleed out into the rest of the system. We will try hard not to let it anyway." She tried to reassure him, but it fell flat in the face of his anger.

"You just declared war on another Corpus executive!" Mavri snapped. "How can that not have repercussions across the system?"

"It will." The Reverend Mother took a sip of her tea and smiled at Rachel, but said smile was melancholy. "And worse is yet to come. Unlike Anyo, we will try to keep it from flaring up all over, but he won't care. He thinks we have Lissandra and he will do anything he can to take her back. I am astonished that he didn't tell everyone what she can do." The nun said softly. "That is not typical behavior for him."

"He does not want to share." Tiana spoke up from where she stood by one wall. She had been called in when Alicia had been detained. Not that Alicia was capable of doing anything but sitting and crying right now.

"It is more than that." The Clergywoman replied absently. "None of my sources or analysts can give any reason for him not to gloat about what she could do. If he did, all of our enemies would line up to attack us." She shook her head. "He has to know he cannot win against us. His armies and fleets are massive, but he cannot kill what he cannot _find_ any more than he can kill Vox Solaris and..." She paused, her eyes going distant. Then she hissed. "Oh dear."

"What?" Rachel, Tiana and Mavri chorused.

"You know we were given a number of recovered files from the lab. Most heavily encrypted." The Reverend Mother said slowly. All of the others nodded. "Marlena left. She didn't want to strain your patience or take the chance of running into Miguel. Smart of her."

"And?" Mavri demanded, only to pause and look at Rachel who waved his transgression away. She led here, but she was just as curious apparently.

"And I need to talk to 'Ali'." The Reverend Mother rose, leaving her cup on the chair. "Now." Her tone changed from tired to worried, frustrated, scared and angry all in one. All three Tenno stared at one another and she shook her head. "He hasn't left." Not a question.

"Galina's sacrifice, final or no, sent them to him." Rachel said slowly. "He feels obligated. And with you telling everyone that _humans_ did not steal Lissandra and Cass... Things just got ugly."

"The knowledge that it was Tenno who managed to breach our security was already out there. The breeding colony had the best security in human space." The Reverend Mother said with a shrug. "No human could have managed such. Not even Maroo. Many have tried and they have all failed. It was a calculated risk. The Corpus know that our security is not perfect, but they also know, now, that Tenno could get in and out undetected." She smiled grimly. "If you can get in there, you can get in _anywhere._ " All of the Tenno stared at her and her smile became a smirk. "What? I am not allowed to enhance your reputation now?"

"And the fear you engender will be useful to you." Mavri growled. The Reverend Mother shrugged.

"Probably." The Clergywoman was neither agreeing with nor dismissing the concern. "I need to talk to Ali and then we need to see if Alicia is capable at all. We need to know _where_ the two were supposed to go."

"Why?" Mavri demanded, anger rising again. "You started a war! And now, you want to talk about it?"

"The war began when the First Tenno abducted Lissandra at Anyo's orders." The Reverend Mother corrected him grimly. "Now? I know _why_." She made a face."That idiot. That insufferable, stupid, clueless fool!"

"Who?" Rachel asked and then shook her head. "Ali is on his way. Timothy and Isha are warding him."

"Anyo." The Clergywoman growled. "There are things that are sealed away for a _reason!_ " She shook her had. "Specifically _Orokin_ things. But his Void has told him to open any and every silly little Orokin box he finds. So he does and then he wonders why all hell breaks loose around him. I do wonder when his people will realize that he is stark raving mad."

"They likely already know." Tiana said quietly. "But where can they go?" The Reverend Mother looked at her and Tiana shrugged. "How many of them have read all of your corporate guidelines?"

"Not enough of them." The Clergywoman seemed to wilt a bit. "It is not in their overlords' best interests to let them know all of the facts. We do what we can. It is not enough. They do not know their rights nor their options and their masters won't let them know. They are not supposed to be slaves, but they don't know nay better. We try to tell them and we get silenced far too often." She shook her head when all three looked worried. "They learned not to kill our teachers the hard way. They can be blunt and sometimes rough, but they do not kill our teachers."

"I don't want to know what the Clergy did, do I?" Rachel asked. The Reverend Mother shook her head. "Then I will not ask. But this… What has he done?"

"Something moronic. Something very simple, very easy to start and almost impossible to stop." The Reverend Mother nodded as the door to the room opened and two warframes escorted the cloaked and masked Ali into the room. The Trinity Prime and Limbo Prime nodded to Rachel and stepped out, the door closing behind them. The Clergywoman nodded to Ali as he growled at Rachel.

"You rang?" Ali's tone held sarcasm mixed with curiosity. Rachel, Mavri and Tiana all bristled, but the Reverend Mother did not react. He looked at her and his posture was speculative. "You would be the Reverend Mother of the Clergy." His tone was somewhat more polite now.

"You knew me by another name, but that name is gone alone with that identity." The Clergywoman replied. "Rachel?" She inquired.

"You asked to talk to him." Rachel sighed. "He makes us all very angry. And yes, we know it is totally intentional."

"Tenno _cannot_ allow themselves to be blind." Ali said softly. "I am not of you and will never be one of you, I do know that. Galina tasked me with trying to keep you lot from falling into blind fanaticism like I did. I have tried."

"You have succeeded more than you have failed." The Reverend Mother reassured him and he stared at her. "I remember our long talks on 'good' and 'evil'. I had lost my way and you helped me find it again. For that? I thank you." She bowed to him!

"I only ever talked to Tenno." Ali sounded confused. He looked at Rachel who shrugged. "I do not know you."

"I look nothing like the female Tenno you talked to." The Reverend Mother replied. "I sound nothing like her, but I do remember our talks on darkness. On what lurks deep within the soul of certain beings. On what lurked within her soul after so long walking in darkness alone." Ali staggered back a step and when he spoke again, it held both awe and horror.

" _You_ …?" Ali actually gulped. "What _happened_ to you?"

"I was needed." The Reverend Mother replied. "Three words that do not convey the pain, the sadness, the loss. I was needed, but it hurts even now to see myself as someone that cannot be trusted by people I loved. I ask that you do not spread that. Far too many will take advantage if my previous identity becomes known." She glared at him and he nodded.

"I can see that." Ali gave himself a shake. "You asked to talk to me?" He looked at the others and they all shrugged.

"What do you know of 'Cell Free'?" The Reverend Mother asked and Ali recoiled.

"How do you know about that?" The masked being demanded. This wasn't a calm, considered being. No, rage in his tone. Old rage. Old pain. Old regret. "No one knows about that!"

"My analysts just decrypted Anyo's securest files from the lab." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "Three of them will undergo voluntary mind wipes as a result. That _cannot_ get out. You _know_ it cannot." Ali nodded.

" _Voluntary?_ " Rachel and Mavri spoke in unison. Rachel continued. 'Why?" She demanded.

"You do not want to know!" Ali snapped. "What has he done?" The masked being asked, slumping.

"He opened it and tried to use it." The Reverend Mother said sadly and Ali hissed. "Yes. He is an idiot. Tech is his tool after all. It isn't like the tech has a mind of its own. Is it?"

"Only when people start playing with things they have no _business_ playing with." Ali replied. "I do not and will not agree with Tenno on much, but that? No one today will remember. Maybe not even Nikis. He was not involved. Galina was involved in the cleanup. Did she know?" He mused. "She might have."

"It was never an attack on the Tenno." The Reverend Mother and Ali might have been the only ones in the room. "Would any of them have cared?"

"Salia did." Ali said very quietly. "It impacted our recruitment. We took steps." He shook his head. "Looking back? I think that is what gave her the idea for the weapons in the first place. 'Cell Free' Oh, my god. We are in trouble." The Reverend Mother nodded.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked, her tone careful.

The human and the not-Tenno in the green mask eyes one another and then the Reverend Mother spoke.

"Anyo has been having a great deal of difficulty on Venus." The Reverend Mother said slowly. "What he has done in Fortune is awful. The Corpus are all about Profit to the exclusion of all else. When one falls into debt, there is little recourse if one does not have assets. And if one is born into a debt that they have no way to ever repay?" She sighed. "He dresses it up nicely for Board meetings, but it is slavery in every possible, ugly way. The environment is too hostile for normal workers, so they have to get heavy body augmentation simply to survive, even before they start working and that costs as well."

"'Don't call me Saint Peter, cause I can't go'..." Ali sang softly and the Reverend Mother nodded as everyone else looked blank. "...'I owe my soul to the company store'."

"As far as Anyo and most executives are concerned, the Solaris _do_ owe their souls to the Company." The Reverend Mother said with a growl. "We have tried to help, but Anyo brooks no trespass and under the Guidelines, there is little we can do unless certain strictures are passed and we are notified." She nodded to the Tenno. 'I know Tenno have done far more, and for that? I thank you. What is happening there is a blot on our history." She bowed her head. "What _has_ happened there and will again if we let it. Anyo thinks he owns their souls and I for one find that thought incredibly repugnant."

"So, what is going on?" Rachel did not demand that. Close but not quite.

"As slaves with brutal or idiotic taskmasters have throughout history, the Solaris are fighting back." The Reverend Mother replied. "Not all of them, but enough. They may not have the resources of a Corpus executive, but they have guts, sense and the ability to hide in places that few can contemplate. Insurrections are no joke at the best of times. There? It is a mess. Anyo tried to show his ability to a group of investors and instead showed his incompetence when he nearly got the entire Vallis turned into molten slag. He blamed the Solaris for that, and wanted vengeance. Tenno stopped him." She smiled at Mavri who frowned. "A good thing."

"Anyo's fleet is in orbit and makes approaching the planet in anything other than a heavily stealthed craft suicide. They cannot see through the cloud cover any more than anyone else can." Tiana mussed. "So, he has a ground war that he cannot win." The Reverend Mother nodded. "He cannot find the enemy. Tenno or otherwise." She winced. "That is not a good thing, is it?"

"No." The Clergywoman sighed. "He has the manpower and firepower to level the entire Vallis. He knows where Fortuna is, but the colony is a massive investment on his part. He won't blow it up unless given far more cause. He didn't before." She slumped a bit. "God knows, that would have been kinder than what he actually did."

"So..." Rachel mused. "He found another way to stop them?"

"So he thought." The Reverend Mother sighed. "I always knew he was an idiot, but this? This stretches the limits of idiocy. I can almost see him being that desperate, especially now. He didn't know what he was unleashing. He had no idea."

"No one was ever _supposed_ to. We were _promised_ that all copies were destroyed." Ali growled. Then he sighed. "I… I may be the only one who remembers. Who knows just how dangerous Cell Free is." Everyone looked at him and he shook his head. "Records don't do it justice. It affected everyone. Human, Tenno, Orokin, everyone." At that, Mavri and the two warframe clad Tenno goggled at him, but the Reverend Mother nodded.

"We will need to explain to everyone, but we have to be very careful." The Reverend Mother sighed deeply. "We have to keep this quiet. If Anyo is pushed into a corner, he may very well nuke the entire Vallis. Using force is what his kind knows when thwarted. And this?" She slumped a bit. "I bet the Grineer would react exactly the same way."

"Tenno did." Ali said very softly and everyone stared at him. "That never made the histories."

"No, it wouldn't." The Reverend Mother agreed. "I need to talk to Cass, Lissandra and any available Cyberlancer. I need to do it privately." She made a face. "I know what Lissandra will say. Cass, probably likewise. But, oh my God! I don't want to throw them into this. This is not a fight they can win."

"No alone, no." Ali took a deep breath and then he bowed to the Clergywoman. "But this is a threat I understand. Trust will never happen and no matter what some may wish, I cannot be redeemed. What I did can have no forgiveness. I am not Tenno, but my penance is eternal for all the lives my mentor and I snuffed out."

"Lissandra has suffered enough." The Reverend Mother said sadly. "I don't want to put this on her."

"A medic and a tech." Ali slowly shook his head. "Just like the last time. Was any of what I was briefed on actually true?"

"Most of it was a cover story." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "I can have hard copy files hand delivered to a secure Tenno archive. There will be _no_ unencrypted electronic copies of this. At least Anyo did _that_ right." She growled. "That insufferable _idiot!_ If he had simply _asked_ … But oh, no.. The Void demands and the Void takes. Well this time, it took a bit too much and a certain fool _will_ draw back a bloody stump." She paused and then her face held shock. "Wait… I declared Holy War, that means I can act and no one will think twice if I take extreme measures." She shook her head. "This was planned for. That is way too convoluted to be Anyo's work. Who...?" She gave herself a shake. "Later. I will think on that later."

"What do you mean?" Mavri demanded, then winced, looking at Rachel who sighed.

"Maybe _you_ should lead us, Elder Mavri." Rachel half joked. Mavri recoiled, his face ashen, but she waved his worry away. "Joking. I am joking, but trust me, if I found a successor? I would draft them in a heartbeat." She looked at the Reverend Mother and then at Ali. "Can you say what the threat is?" She inquired carefully.

"It is not a threat like you would define one." Ali said softly and the Reverend Mother nodded, her face grim. "There are no physical enemies to kill or intimidate. Which makes it far harder to combat."

"Is it a disease?" Rachel inquired.

"Eh… Sort of?" The Reverend Mother groaned as Ali shrugged helplessly. "It is hard to explain. At its core, yes, it is a disease, but treating it is like trying to treat the ancient common cold. There were so many things that caused the symptoms that were defined as 'a cold' that it was virtually impossible to treat. That is the problem here too. It is not an illness, per say. It _acts_ as one and..." She slumped. "...it probably looked like a weapon to someone like Anyo."

"Idiot." Ali growled and the Reverend Mother nodded.

"No argument here." The Clergywoman agreed. "I… I know Liriel is talking to Cass. She will likely remember. Call her in. If… If she wishes to hurt or slay me, I will pay that price." All of the Tenno stared at the Clergywoman as she slumped.

"Reverend Mother..." Mavri spoke into the silence. "You would let her kill you?" The nun nodded. "Why?"

"Because if we do not stop this, now, then the entire system may fall to it." Ali said very quietly. "I do not know if it worked on Infested or not…?" He asked the Reverend Mother who slowly nodded. "Oh dear."

"Anything with a functioning, higher level brain." The Reverend Mother said softly. "I bet even the Sentients would not be immune. It all comes from inside, there is nothing to adapt to."

"What the hell kind of _horror_ is this 'Cell Free'?" Rachel demanded. "What kind of _insane_ person makes a disease like that?"

"An Orokin made it." Ali said very softly as the Reverend Mother started to pray quietly. "But as for what _kind_ of horror?"

"A video game."


	11. Chapter 11

**That is not entertainment**

Lissandra was clearly terrified and fighting hard not to cry.

Even with Cass, the puppy Lilly and the holographic Kavat moving protectively around her, she all but exuded fear when she was led into the room that housed the group. Rachel, Mavri and Tiana all stood by one wall. Ali stood by another. The Reverend Mother took one look at the all but crying girl, shook her head and stalked forward. Liriel made way as the Clergywoman took Lissandra in her arms and hugged her tight. Lissandra lost her battle and started to cry as the Reverend Mother held her. The nun glared at the Kavat who eyed her with matching animosity.

 _Do not fight._ The fierce words from the puppy had everyone staring at the small Kubrow who glared around at _everyone. My mistress is stressed_ _enough_ _._

"She has a right to it." Ali said softly as he bent to one knee and held out a hand that the Kubrow gave a sniff of. "We mean her no harm, devoted one."

 _Harm will feel my bite._ The puppy barked so fiercely that more than one person bit back chuckles. Ali did not. Cass and the Reverend Mother did not either. Cass joined the hug.

"Fear is a survival instinct." The masked being said quietly. "Humans, Tenno, others. Most biological forms and many others feel fear. Anger often follows to protect them from whatever has frightened them. In this case, we mean you no harm, Human Lissandra." He rose to his feet and held out a slow hand to Lissandra who stared at it through streaming eyes. "I mean you no harm."

"I am sorry." Lissandra was sobbing as the Reverend Mother held her. "I am sorry." She all but babbled.

"What have you possibly got the be sorry about?" The Clergywoman asked, her tone firm, but her hands were gentle as she tried to soothe the distraught girl. "You didn't do any of this. You have been hurt and abused. You are not a warrior. Not a combatant in any way and evil beings have taken advantage. Calm, Lissandra. It will be okay. But you need to be calm." She crooned and Lissandra hiccuped a bit, relaxing.

"I do not know if calm is going to happen, Reverend Mother." Lissandra said sadly, but her tears did stop. "I will try not to embarrass you."

"You think I care about such things?" The Clergywoman asked as she stroked Lissandra's short hair. "You tried so hard to save René and you couldn't." The Kavat stared at her, but the human ignored the hologram to focus on the girl. "That wasn't your fault and neither is this. Easy. Easy." She soothed the girl and Lissandra slowly calmed.

"I hate this." Lissandra said sadly. "I hate my life." Everyone tensed but the Reverend Mother just kept trying to soothe her. "I hate it all! Why won't anyone kill me?" She demanded, angry flaring. Cass and the Reverend Mother held her tight as she halfheartedly tried to escape their embraces, but wasn't nearly strong enough to free herself.

"Lissandra." The elder Clergywoman's tone hardened. She shook her head and calmed herself visibly. "You know why."

"Because I might be _useful_ someday." Lissandra snapped bitterly and then started crying again.

"Truthfully? Yes, but not just because of that. Also because you are a victim." Elder Mavri took a slow step towards the group and when no one reacted, another. "You are not guilty of any crime worthy of the death penalty, girl." She looked at the bearded Elder with hopeless eyes and he slowly shook his head. "We are what we are, but that? No. None of us will do that."

"Even when I beg for it." Lissandra all but collapsed in Cass and the Reverend Mother's embraces. "I just..." She broke off as Cass squeezed her hard.

"You are tired." The Reverend Mother said sadly. "For so long, you have been in pain and trying to stay upbeat despite it all. When you do not use your ability, it hurts you and no one sane wants to make you a slave or a mindless tool, Lissandra. No one."

" _BUT THAT IS ALL I AM!_ " Lissandra screamed that and then jerked as Lilly whined a little at her feet. "I..."

 _Not to me._ The Kubrow puppy said firmly as she sat on top of Lissandra's feet. She stared up at the girl, eyes wide and accepting. _You are mine and I am yours. We are together._

"I..." Lissandra slumped, her rage fleeing as swiftly as it had appeared. She bent down to pet the Kubrow who leaned into her hand.

"Are you in pain now?" Rachel inquired softly. Lissandra shook her head. "Good."

"It won't last." Lissandra said sadly. "It never does." She gave herself a shake. "I… I apologize for my outburst, Reverend Mother."

"Remind me to beat you later." The Reverend Mother deadpanned and more than one person gasped, but Lissandra chuckled.

"I will." Lissandra's words held no mirth. "I don't see what good I can do, Reverend Mother." She begged as she petted Lilly who nuzzled her hand. "I can't fight Nef Anyo any more now than I could when I was a child."

"We do not need warriors right now, Lissandra." The Reverend Mother said with a sigh as she patted the girl's shoulder and then released her. "Warriors are all well and good when they have an enemy to fight, but what we face at the moment is not an enemy."

"I don't understand." Lissandra half asked, half stated. She jerked as Ali took a step towards her and Liriel hissed. She bared her teeth and the puppy at Lissandra's feet bared hers.

 _Touch her and die, you terrorist scum._ The holographic Kavat queen's quiet words were not a threat. No, they were far more than that. She wouldn't just do it, she would _enjoy_ it!

"'Terrorist'?" Lissandra asked weakly.

"Yes." Ali replied and when no one reacted, he continued. "A very long time ago, I was a foolish child who sought power. I met a powerful being who took me in and taught me how to be powerful." He shook his head. "I did not know or care of the consequences of my actions, because I wanted to be strong. I was the only being who mattered. Even Salia was not important to me as my own strength. I learned my lesson and it was both long and painful to learn."

"What did you want?" Lissandra asked, curious. "I mean, are you a Tenno?" Everyone bristled and she recoiled, but Ali spoke first.

"No." Ali shook his head and most relaxed. Liriel did _not,_ Lissandra noticed. "I was made into what I am by a being who forsook the Ways of the Tenno who followed the First. Honestly? Now, I do not know if my mentor and her master sought power simply to have it or if they truly _did_ have some grand scheme in mind as they always said they did. Salia and I were disciples of another who left the Tenno. Oris was not a nice being in the slightest. Our world was chaos with Hayden gone. He had kept all of us in line for a long time through sheer force of will, and then he was gone. Looking back with perfect hindsight? It was only a matter of time and how many died before we were stopped." He bowed his head. "Galina showed me just how much it cost, my hubris. Seeing ourselves as we truly are is no blessing."

"No. It isn't." Lissandra gave herself a shake and then gave Lilly one final pat before rising to dash the tears from her face with a hand. Lilly whined and when Lissandra bent down, gave Lissandra's face a lick before recoiling. The look on the puppy's face was pure comic gold.

 _Ew! Salt!_ The puppy's tone left little to the imagination about how she felt about _that._

"Trust will not happen." Ali warned when Lissandra relaxed a little more. "The Tenno will not trust me and I will not trust them, but we have larger concerns at the moment." He stepped back. "Concerns you may be able to aid us with."

"How?" Lissandra sighed and knelt, petting Lilly who gave a whine of pleasure. "As I say, I am no warrior."

"What we face is not an enemy that can be fought with blades or bullets." Ali said soberly. "Once, long ago, just after Orokin was founded, there was a movement to abolish conflict altogether." Lissandra stared at him, confused and Ali shrugged. "Take my word for it, please? I have records but none of them are here."

"The 'Peace Life' movement." Rachel said softly and Ali inclined his head to her. It wasn't quite a nod, but it was an acknowledgment.

"Peace is a noble goal." Ali said with a shrug. "But humans and others, including many Tenno I have known, are ill suited to such a life. We get bored, you see and find new ways to entertain ourselves." He actually shuddered! "So, the movement looked for way to keep people from being bored. They found one."

"Why do I get the feeling that such is not a good thing?" Cass asked as he sat down beside Lissandra and started petting the puppy as who who soaked the attention up like a sponge.

"Because you are smart." The Revered Mother knelt beside Lissandra and laid her hand on the girl's arm. Liriel stared at her and then hissed softly. "Yes, Liriel. Nef Anyo apparently found an intact copy of an Orokin game program and tried to figure out how to use it as a weapon. And yes, it was Cell Free."

 _Is he_ **insane?** The Kavat snapped and then paused. She snorted. Okay. _Yes, he_ **is** _insane, but that… That is well beyond any of his normal madness._ She sounded halfway between fury and fear.

"Indeed it is." The Reverend Mother sighed. "Lissandra? Apparently, you and the sergeant were taken to try and stop the program from spreading beyond his lab." Lissandra's eyes widened and the Clergywoman sighed. "Or, that is what was in his secure files. He is sneaky, so it may be some kind of trick or trap. But if that game _is_ loose… Then we have all kinds of problems."

"'Game'?" Lissandra and Cass chorused. They looked at one another and Lissandra smiled, just a little, before turning back to the Reverend Mother.

"Yes." The Reverend Mother sighed and nodded to Ali. "Cell Free is a game. He knows firsthand what it can do. As does Liriel."

"But… How can a game be dangerous?" Lissandra asked. "I mean… Clearly you all think it is, but I don't understand." She admitted

"Anything that distracts a person can be dangerous if it happens at the wrong time." Ali replied when Liriel glared at him. "And yes, Salia and I used that distraction as a weapon. It was one of many tactics that the Tenno of the time and now all agree were wrong." He did not seem to think that.

"But… how can a _game…_?" Lissandra trailed off, shaking her head. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"It does." Ali replied, his tone full of old regret. "If you realize that the game Cell Free was the single most addictive of all of the Orokin entertainments." Both Cass and Lissandra stiffened and Ali nodded. "The more you played, the more you wanted to."

"Orokin..." Lissandra said weakly and then she nodded. "Some kind of pleasant neural feedback?"

"Indeed." Ali bowed to Lissandra. "Well reasoned."

"Was it violent, that game?" Cass asked and everyone but Lissandra shook their heads. "Is that good or bad?"

"A bit of both." Ali replied. "Violent games, by their very nature, are hard to keep going. No matter how jaded or dark a person may get, there is always a limit." He looked at the Reverend Mother who nodded. "That limit may be a person's sanity, but once that limit is passed, they stop playing."

"And if it is simple _fun_..." Lissandra said quietly. "They don't stop." Everyone nodded.

 _It was a puzzle._ Liriel said softly from where she crouched, wary. _The better you did at solving the puzzle, the better you felt. It did not physically i_ _nteract with_ _any of the pleasure centers, that was forbidden, but it did_ _stimulate them. It_ _pull_ _ed_ _people in and h_ _e_ _ld them tight. Instant gratification for success has always been a dream of many sentient species._ _The game gave that to_ _the players_ _._

"Oh dear." Cass and Lissandra chorused. Lissandra clung to Cass who sighed and nodded. He continued. "And now…?"

"Any unprepared being is incredibly vulnerable to this." Rachel said quietly. "Neural feeds such as this game used were intended for connection to all sorts of Orokin technology." She looked at the floor. "A dozen Tenno died when the game was let loose."

 _When he let it loose._ Liriel snapped at Ali.

"Salia let it loose." Ali replied without heat. "I was there, yes. To my shame, I did not argue. If not for…" He paused. "...for _Lynn_ and _Galina_..." He corrected himself grimly. "...I would be as dead as Salia is."

"She died?" Lissandra asked.

"Energy beings can die just as meat beings can, Lissandra." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "It is not something they advertise, but asking you to try and fix this without all the information is a death sentence and while you may wish death, I do not wish it on you. I love you, Lissandra. All of your faults non-withstanding, you were dear to me before you tried to hard to help René. Our shared grief when we lost her is our bond."

"I love you too." The human girl held out a hand that the Reverend Mother took. "How can I help? Obviously, you think I can. Is this _game_ something I can filter?" She asked.

"Anyo thought you could." The elder Clergywoman said with a frown. "But as to _how_? I have no idea. The files are vague. I saw the header and freaked." Lissandra looked at her and the Reverend Mother frowned. "In my previous life, I talked with Ali a few times. He was serving an eternal penance for his crimes and we talked about good and evil several times. Cell Free came up in our discussions. He is a good counselor."

"It helped that I had little else to do." Ali's tone might have dried up a flooding river. "Galina may have spared me, but she was not about to let me run around loose." Lissandra stared at him and Ali shrugged. "I cannot stay away from the Sanctuary but so long. I won't die." He reassured her when she tensed. "She wasn't that _nice_." He muttered.

"If _anyone_ earned an eternity of prison, you did." Rachel replied. "You may not have actually killed anyone with your own two hands, but their blood is on your soul."

"I know." Ali replied. "But this? I am glad to be here. Cell Free is a horror. It doesn't seem that way, but it is. You do not realize when your body or energy wastes away. You just keep playing."

"You played it." Lissandra said softly. Ali nodded.

"I did, so I know exactly how addictive it is." Ali had a frown in his voice now. "But this… This is odd. The Orokin, the Tenno, _everyone_ focused on destroying every copy of that game. No one dared to keep any. _Nikis_ wouldn't have dared that ban. It was not every day that the Tenno, the Orokin Emperor _and_ the Council of Executors agreed on _anything._ As far as I know, it didn't happen before or after that." Everyone stared at the green masked being as he shook his head. "No Tenno would have kept a copy, no matter how well secured. They knew how dangerous it was. No one in this time could make something that foul disguised as fair."

"That wouldn't stop any number of fools I know of from trying." The Reverend Mother said sourly. "Anyo is just one of _many_ who would love to drop something like that on an enemy. While they are all distracted, you take over. But then, _they_ get infected, but what do they care as long as they have more money than you when they die?" That was bitter and Lissandra gave the Clergywoman's hand a squeeze that the Reverend Mother returned.

"The Sentients?" Cass inquired. "Could they resist it or worse, use it?"

"Could they?" The Reverend Mother asked the room. "Sure. Why would they? They have far more efficient means of killing or enslaving. And then there is the chance that _they_ could be infected."

"Seriously?" Cass asked, looking at Liriel who nodded.

 _The game reads the minds of the players._ _It doesn't matter the species._ The Kavat was tense. _It does so t_ _o find a way to offer positive feedback when they win and to give them a challenge. No session in the game is ever the same._

"Holy." Cass paused and then he stared at Liriel in consternation. "You don't think…?"

 _No, Lynn was not involved._ The Kavat reassured him. _She knew better. Her son and daughter had both been addicted to video games. Both went through a great deal of angst to break the addiction. I have my arguments with her, but she would not have done that._ _She was involved in the cleanup after Ali was captured. So was I._ Pain sang in her voice. _We failed so many._

"You did what you could." Everyone stared as Lissandra bowed her head to the holographic Kavat. "I will do what I can. If this game…" She shook her head. "What can I filter? It is not a toxin, is it?"

"Toxins do result." Ali sounded thoughtful. "But that is mainly from lack of care, lack of feeding, dehydration, that kind of thing. Nothing matters but the game. The addiction must be broken."

"I am not an addiction counselor." Lissandra said weakly. "If it is computer related, then Cass' presence makes some sense, but what can _I_ do? What did he plan for me to do?"

"Lissandra..." The Reverend Mother squeezed her hand again. "He was going to let it loose on Venus. The lab is in the Orb Vallis."

"Fortuna?" Lissandra said weakly. Everyone nodded and she slumped. "I… I never wanted to go back." She admitted.

"Neither do I. But if you go? You will not go alone." Cass reassured her. He looked at the Reverend Mother and his gaze turned hard. "What haven't you told us?"

"You do not want to know." The Reverend Mother said quietly. All of the Tenno nodded, but Cass just hugged Lissandra.

"If you will not be truthful with me..." Cass said firmly. "...I will not let her fall into your snares. I know what you do and why-" He broke off as Lissandra sighed. "What?" He asked her.

"I halfway remember what he told me when I was being programmed. It is not strong enough to compel me, but it is clear." Lissandra said very softly. "But I won't do it. I won't!"

"Do _what?_ " Cass demanded, fear and anger warring.

"Become his immortal Daughter of Profit." Lissandra said sadly. "Ruler of Fortuna."

"Oh." Cass stared at her and then at the others. "Ah..."

"Like I said." The Reverend Mother pulled Lissandra into a hug as the girl started to cry again. "You didn't want to know."

"No, I guess not. Me?" Cass asked.

"The Raptor plan was a fake." The Reverend Mother shrugged. "You would have been the next 'Sergeant'. He loses the soldiers who take that role regularly." Her grin was vicious. "Can't imagine _why_."

"As a _Cyberlancer?_ " Cass asked weakly.

"Maybe you would live a bit longer than most who get brainwashed into that role."


	12. Chapter 12

**Twists**

Lissandra was not asleep. She wanted to be, but she was not.

Cass had stayed up talking with her for quite some time. The Reverend Mother had not wanted to leave, but she had many duties. Liriel had simply vanished, cutting her hologram without even a 'goodbye'. The kind Tenno Healer had come and taken both Cass and Lissandra from the discussion that had erupted between the other Tenno after the Clergy leader had left. She had made sure that both Lissandra and Cass had eaten, given both a fairly intense physical exam and then led them back to sleeping quarters with orders to 'get comfortable'. Iriana had been smirking when she had said that and Lissandra had blushed, but Cass had been a perfect gentleman. He hadn't pressed and Lissandra had appreciated that. She was reeling. Lilly was asleep on the bed between Cass and Lissandra, the Kubrow's faint snores calming after such an exciting day.

Lissandra wanted to sleep. She needed to sleep. She knew that. But she couldn't. Something was wrong. Someone was crying. She looked around, but there was no one-

She jerked as her world suddenly shifted in a way that she had no words for. She screamed, but no sound came and then a voice that she sort of remembered spoke up.

"Oh dear!" That was the voice from the female Tenno! The one who had-

Lissandra was suddenly in another room, sitting on a comfortable chair as the world solidified around her. It shimmered in ways that were profoundly unnatural. She should have been afraid, terrified, but she wasn't. The hands that held hers were flesh and blood, warm and gentle. She looked up into worried dark eyes.

"Easy." The voice was familiar, but the face was not. The woman in front of her looked oddly ageless, dark hair and brown eyes surrounding face that was lined from both sorrow and laughter. "Easy, girl. You are safe. I won't hurt you."

"You hurt the other." Lissandra wanted to pull the words back in as soon as she said them, but the other was not offended.

"I did." The being who others had called Nyx or Galina said with a shrug. "I would again. What was done to you was wrong in so many ways. That _Hayden_ and _Alicia_ did it to you? That is worse. Far worse."

"I don't remember what was done." Lissandra said weakly. "I woke up in Anyo's custody and I barely remember that." The Tenno nodded, her face grave. "I… What happened?"

"You are lucky you do not remember. I tore the information on what was done from Alicia's mind." The Tenno looked away. "I am not proud that I lost my temper, but after seeing what had been done to you and the sergeant?" She shook her head. "I have always tried to do the right thing, but I am just as fallible now as I was when I was human, so long ago."

"You were angry." Lissandra tried to reassure the other and the Tenno smiled at her.

"I had cause, but what I did was extreme." The other sighed and then sat in a chair that formed for her to do so. That didn't bother Lissandra for some reason. The other was still holding Lissandra's hands. "My name is Galina. I was called Nyx for a very long time. You may call me either. May I know your name?"

"You know it, don't you?" Lissandra asked, confused.

"I am trying to be polite." The Tenno replied, her entire posture dejected. "I scared you very badly, and that was wrong of me. I took control of you to keep you calm. Taking control of others is never right. Sometimes it can be needed, but it should never be the first choice."

"My name is Lissandra." The girl replied with a nod. "I am pleased to meet you under better circumstances." Galina smiled at her, but it was sad, that smile.

"I would say 'Well met', Lissandra, but this is not a good situation." Galina shook her head. "Hayden _had_ to be the one who kept the copy of Cell Free. No one else would have dared." Lissandra felt her eyes bulge.

"You know about that?"

"Nikis and his mate have been working to put me back together and they have kept me informed." Galina sighed deeply and nodded. "But yes. Liriel and I talked a bit too. She likes you. That may or may not be a good thing."

"Everyone was afraid you are gone for good." Lissandra said weakly. "You are not, are you?" She asked, fear rising.

"I am not a ghost, if that is what you are asking." Galina smiled just a little. "That said, I am not alive either. I am energy form. My energy was dissipated and damaged, but it is being repaired. I couldn't just leave you in such dire straits however. You are in grave danger, girl."

"So what else is new?" Lissandra managed snark somehow and Galina actually chuckled.

"Iriana and the others will do what they can, but there are a _lot_ of people who will see your ability and _only_ that." Galina warned her. "I have touched your mind. I know your pain. I know your fear and oh my god, I am _sorry!_ "

She pulled the human into her lap as Lissandra started to cry. She held the girl, muttering soft things that made little sense, but were soothing and eventually, Lissandra calmed a bit. After a time that might have been minutes or hours, Lissandra felt something soft wiping her face, cleaning her tears away. She looked up at Galina who smiled at her.

"You needed to cry. To let it out." Galina said softly. "Here and now, no one but me can see you. No one can hear you. No one has the right to deny you your grief." That was cold and hard, but for some reason, Lissandra wasn't afraid. Not of this odd being. "As bad as what I went through was, you have been just as battered and torn. You have been alone so long and now you are not. I have seen the sergeant's mind and he will not forsake you. Anyo's evil may have a benefit or it may damn you both. Only time will tell."

"Why?" Lissandra asked sadly as Galina rocked her gently. "Why do this to me? I am a mess. I know I am a horror, but-"

"You are not a horror!" The Tenno replied heatedly, but for some reason, Lissandra was not afraid. " _I_ am a horror! I am not human, not even really _Tenno_ now. I am a tiny remnant of a dead woman. Maybe 'ghost' is a good descriptor." She mused. "Although this is technological, not spiritual."

"I don't understand." Lissandra said weakly. "I thought you were gone."

"Hayden struck me down, yes. My mind was linked to Alicia's when Hayden hit me with his Glaive." Galina relied. "He was trying to send me back to the database, but if I had gone? I would have dragged parts of Alicia's mind with mine. She never would have recovered from that." Galina sighed. "I was angry, but there were limits. I didn't want her destroyed or worse, _halfway_ destroyed."

"What did they do to me?" Lissandra asked. "Anyo's control did not work." Galina shook her head. "They did something, didn't they?"

"Hayden did." Galina slumped a bit. "I knew he was pragmatic, but _this_ …" She shook her head. "I was looking for Hayden to talk to him, but then the Oracle called me and told me that you and the sergeant had been taken by people with far better stealth than humans." She made a face. "I knew instantly that Hayden had done it. I had no idea."

"Why me?" Lissandra asked. "Why not wipe my mind? I mean… The sergeant, if he is becoming a Cyberlancer, they cannot be brainwashed, or so I have heard." Galina shook her head. "But me? If it is done right, it will take." She said weakly.

"It did." Galina said very quietly and Lissandra stiffened. "You do not even realize how changed your mindset is." Lissandra stared at the Tenno and Galina bowed her head. "That is the worst part of it. You would trust Hayden if he appeared here and now. You have no reason to and many reasons not to. You wouldn't think anything wrong of doing anything he says."

"I..." Lissandra swallowed hard. "The Reverend Mother? She didn't pick that up?"

"She is stressed." Galina hugged the girl again. "She has cause. You and she shared an awful time. She cares for you a great deal and she is fighting a war for you as we speak. Anyo had no idea what he was doing. Hayden _did._ "

"This was planned?" Lissandra said weakly. Galina nodded. "But… why?"

"Because Nef Anyo is insane." Galina gave Lissandra another squeeze when the girl gave a soft cry of alarm. "Insanity is unpredictable, but insane people can be easy to manipulate if you know how and if you are careful. Manipulations on that scale are what Hayden did to keep us alive for so long, it is what he does."

"But why?" Lissandra begged. "What can I do? Yes, I may be immortal, and yes, I can clean toxins or whatever out of bodies or forms or whatever, but what can I do against Anyo or Tenno?"

"You by yourself? Nothing." Galina said with a scowl. "But you will not be alone. The sergeant and the one who you know as Ali will not leave your side." Lissandra opened her mouth, but Galina put a finger to her lips. "No. That name will serve. You do not wish to know more. Not yet, perhaps not ever. I cannot aid you more than this. I am recovering here and will be for some time. When I do, Nikis will throw me back into the database." Something in her tone bothered Lissandra.

"And what will you do then?" The human girl shrank back as the Tenno smiled. It was a cold, feral smile of awful promise. "Please! Don't!" Lissandra begged. "Whatever you plan, there is enough horror already!"

Galina stared at her and then relaxed with a sigh.

"I know." Galina made a face. 'I am angry. I likely always will be, but what Hayden did will send shockwaves throughout my people. We all trusted him and he betrayed the first of us. Lynn was the very first of his followers and he betrayed her." Lissandra bowed her head as Galina slumped a bit. "I am… tired."

"You are hurting." Lissandra felt her body react to her words and Galina recoiled, just a hint too late. The tubes connected and Lissandra felt her power flowing as Galina gasped. "You don't need to."

"No!" Galina gasped as Lissandra's power soothed the energy form and then she was crying as Lissandra held her. "No! Anger is what I am!"

"No." Lissandra reassured her. "You are more than that. I can help you… I just wish you could help me." She smiled as Galina stared at her, slumping in relief as Lissandra's power pulled energy from her to soothe the Tenno's rhythms in a way that the human could not define.

Then _Galina_ was crying as Lissandra held her. The power flow stopped and the human just held the crying Tenno.

"How long have you been in pain?" Lissandra asked softly as she did for Galina what the Tenno had done for her. Soothed her with gentleness.

"Too long." Galina said weakly. "I… Why?" She pleaded. "You hate what you do."

"Do I?" Lissandra asked. "You are a mind reader. Was I manipulated into this?" Galina stared at the human and then she gasped. Lissandra smiled and shook her head. "Whatever programs were put in my mind, this was all me. You were hurting. Now, you are not."

"You are far more dangerous than you look." Galina said slowly. Lissandra shook her head.

"You think I do not know how easy it would be to make people worship me?" Lissandra asked in a very soft voice. "I can heal things that no one else can. So many, in so many places, would call my horror miraculous. You know this." She looked away. "But it would be wrong. I am not a goddess and I refuse to be used as one. I have begged, pleaded, sworn, yelled, kicked, screamed… No one will kill me."

"I can." Galina said softly and Lissandra stilled. "If… I do not wish to slay such a wonderful being as yourself, but if you ask me, I will. Anyone could wipe your mind, end your _current_ self's suffering, but no one wishes to lose the good person who you are. Whoever grew in your stead might not be so altruistic." She hugged Lissandra gently. "I can end your pain permanently. You have but to ask. For what you just did… I feel like myself for the first time in _eons!_ " Her hug turned fierce. "Thank you!" She was crying hard now and Lissandra hugged her back. "I feel like myself for the first time since I died!"

"I am glad I could help." Lissandra was reeling. "Part of me really wants to take up your offer, but if I do? What happened on Venus?" Galina stared at her and Lissandra bowed her head. "The only thing required for evil to triumph..." Galina knew the ancient quote. The pair chorused the end.

"...is for good _women_ to do nothing."

The two mismatched beings stared at one another and then they shared a grim nod.

"The offer stands." Galina said with a growl. "I will not break my word to you."

"I may take you up on that, but for now?" Lissandra sighed. "What is going to happen to me?"

"Various groups are debating that." Galina sighed. "If I was who I once was, my voice could add weight to the ones who wish you to be free to seek your own destiny. Any other choice is unethical."

"Why can't you?" Lissandra asked and Galina looked at her. "What is a name, Tenno?" Lissandra asked with a small, sad smile.

"You want to have a philosophical argument now?" Galina asked, incredulous.

"No." Lissandra reassured her. "You are who you are. Who you follow does not define who you are. You chose to take up that mantle, did you not?" Galina nodded, manifestly against her will. "That means that you are still who you were. No one can take that away from you except you. You are still the being you were when you came to try and aid me and the sergeant. Do not let anyone else change you." She reached out to hug the Tenno again. "Nyx."

"I..." Galina sighed deeply and then slowly nodded. "I was so angry. At Hayden, at Lynn, at myself. At the _kids_ and it certainly isn't their fault!"

"They need you." Lissandra said firmly. "Your people need your core of knowing what is right and what is wrong. You chose to fight him. You chose to try and stop him from doing evil. Your Hayden and Anyo both."

"I did." Galina said with a sigh. "Did such a great job, didn't I?" She asked, her smile a bit self deprecating.

"Cell Free needs to be stopped." Lissandra said softly. "Can I do it?"

"With the sergeant's help? Probably." Galina heaved a deep sigh. "I do not know how. Lynn was very closemouthed about what she did. Liriel, likewise. I know that hundreds died when they let loose what they did, humans and Tenno alike. The survivors were scarred for the rest of their lives."

"Ali is still scarred." Lissandra agreed softly.

"The being you know as Ali is not a good being." Galina warned. "Even now, after so long imprisoned and with me trying to rehabilitate him, he is not a good being."

"Which is what we need." Lissandra replied and Galina stared at her. "Sometimes it takes very bad people to do good. Doesn't it, Nyx?"

"I like you." Galina,- no, Nyx!-, hugged Lissandra tight enough to hurt and her form morphed into the warframe that Lissandra has seen before. "My offer stands, human Lissandra. You have but to ask. I do not wish to, but I do know what is right and your pain is wrong." She gave Lissandra one final squeeze and released her.

"But needed." Lissandra smiled as Nyx retreated a bit. The world was shimmering.

"There are limits and I know where they lie. The rest of my kin will know where those limits sit as well before I am done." Nyx promised. Then her tone hardened. "Do not trust anything Hayden promises you. He is a master manipulator. The best I have ever met."

"Is there anyone I _can_ trust?" Lissandra begged as the world fell away.

"Yes." Nyx's mind gave hers a final caress. "You will like them."

Lissandra sat up in the bed, but then slowly sank back down as Lilly gave a sleepy growl. The human stared at the Kubrow and then at Cass. Lilly rolled over and was asleep again. Both slept peacefully but Lissandra was wide awake. She did not react as the door opened and a form in a white gown entered the room. The face was distorted by a hologram and Lissandra nodded. One of Amelia's Voices. She stiffened as the Voice reached up and undid her face covering. The red skinned face that was revealed was young. Ageless, but young looking. Familiar! Lissandra had never met the being, but she did know who this was! Every Clergy medic had been briefed on the horror. She nodded to Lissandra's stunned look.

"Hello Lissandra." The Voice said with a smile as another entered the room and took up station by the door. This one did not remove its face covering. "We need to talk."

"I cannot help you." Lissandra warned as Cass jerked awake. He stared at the Voice and then paled.

" _Lis?_ " The sergeant stammered as Lilly woke up as well. A quick look had the Kubrow sitting on the bed between the two Voices and her humans.

"Lis F-43. Or, that wasn't your name. Just a cover identity." Lissandra stammered. The unmasked Voice nodded. "I… Oh… I wanted to help you. I could not before. They were debating if I was needed or not."

"I didn't need you. I needed Harriet." Lis said with a shrug. "I would have hurt you, maybe killed you accidentally and that would have been a shame."

"And you are here _now_ …? Because…?" Cass inquired very carefully.

"Because Shepherd is in trouble and she needs your help." Lis replied. "She went to Venus to help the residents of Fortuna with spiritual problems and she disappeared there. We have reason to believe that Anyo has her in the lab where he released Cell Free."

She stilled and then her hand flashed, her face covering back in place as _Hayden Tenno_ appeared in a corner of the room! Physically stepped out of a hole that appeared in the wall! Before he could speak, the Voice did.

"Be ye gone, Tenno." The Voice snapped. "You have done _enough_."

"This does not concern you, Voice." Hayden Tenno said to the Voice as he looked at the pair on the bed. Lilly growled but he was unmoved. "I will keep my people from splintering."

"Too late." Lissandra was hardly the only one to freeze as _Nyx_ strode in the room through the door that the Voices had used. Not a hologram! She was _physical_ again! Other waframes started filing in behind her. All golden. All First. All in physical form. _All_ _furious!_

 _Oh dear!_


	13. Chapter 13

**Change**

"Nyx."

Hayden seemed at a loss for words as a _wall_ of golden warframes moved to stand between him and the bed. Between him and Lissandra.

"You will leave her alone." Nyx said flatly as she stood by the bed. She had no weapon in hand and indeed, didn't seem hostile. But only a fool took her for calm. "Voices? Get them out of here. He did something to try and keep the Kubrow unconscious! Sister Isha? Silence him before he does something even more unforgivable and I _hurt_ him." A golden Trinity nodded.

The closest Voice held out her hand and Lissandra rose to take it. Lilly and Cass rose from the bed to walk beside her as the Voice led her from the room. Behind her, she could hear voices, but none of them made any sense. A hum that was more felt that heard tore through them. Lilly winced and Lissandra bent down to gather the shuddering puppy up in her arms. The puppy was quivering as energy started to sing behind the trio. Lissandra stroked the puppy's head and Lilly relaxed a little. Light flared behind them, but all of the walking beings ignored that as the door shut behind them. The silence that fell was deafening.

"What does he want with me?" Lissandra finally broke the silence.

"I do not know." The Voice leading her replied. "The Tenno may be divided on you and your ability, but none of them will cross Nyx."

"No one is that stupid." Ali stepped out of a cross corridor and the cavalcade stopped short, both Voices moving to stand between him and Lissandra. Ali shook his head. "If I wanted to hurt her, I would have by now."

"No, you want to use me just like everyone else does." Lissandra kept stroking Lilly's head as the puppy growled weakly at the green masked form. Lissandra stiffened. That was blood seeping from the Kubrow puppy's nose! "Lilly is hurt."

"Hayden got loose? I wondered why my guards ran off." Ali sighed deeply and then nodded. "We better get them both to Healer Iriana before the Healer starts ripping walls out." Lissandra stared at him and Ali shrugged. "The Healer has a temper that it is not wise to cross."

"I do not want to cause trouble." Lissandra pleaded as the Voices started off again, leading her gently. "Certainly not for Tenno!"

"We know." The Voice who had spoken to her sounded sad. "None of what has happened is your fault."

"If I was at fault, I could try to fix things, maybe apologize!" Lissandra hugged the stricken Kubrow to her chest as she walked. Cass did not speak, just strode beside her, his eyes never leaving Ali who walked nearby. "But this? All I see is people getting hurt around me. People I love. I can't do that again." Lissandra wilted but then had to smile as Lilly licked her face. "Ah, Lilly. I wish my ability worked on Kubrow."

 _Me too._ The puppy's voice was soft, hurting and Lilly held her gently as the Voices led the others into a large healing ward. Iriana stood in the middle of the room, talking to Tiana who still wore her Nyx Prime warframe. Both stilled as the procession entered.

"What is going on?" Iriana demanded as she stalked towards Lissandra. She stilled as Lissandra indicated Lilly. "Lilly? What happened?" The Healer pulled a scanner from her belt and started scanning the stricken puppy.

"Hayden got loose." Ali said with a growl and everyone stilled. "Nyx is better and she is not happy with him."

"Nikis said he found her energy, but she was a mess." Iriana did something and Lilly relaxed in Lissandra's arms. "He said she wasn't going to-" She broke off, looking at Lissandra who would not meet her eyes. The healer finished what she was doing, gave the puppy a pat and turned to the woman holding the Kubrow. "Lissandra? What did you do?"

"I heard someone crying." Lissandra said very quietly. "I heard her somehow and we talked, but elsewhere. I tried to help. I like to think I did." She slumped a bit. "And when I woke, the Voices came to talk to me." She nodded to them and they nodded back. "And then the one you call Hayden came out of what had to be a secret passage. Nyx came with others and they didn't give him time to do anything." Lissandra protested weakly as Iriana muttered something foul and started scanning her. "I am all right."

"Yes, you are." Iriana turned off her scanner and put it away. Then she sighed deeply, laying a gentle hand on Lissandra's arm. "I am sorry. I thought you would be safe here. I thought we could _make_ you safe here." She slumped and a tear fell, followed by others. "I… I _prayed_ we could make you safe here."

"It isn't your fault any more than it is mine." Lissandra covered Iriana's hand with her own. "I am a valuable commodity and everyone wants me, no matter what I may want or the consequences. I am just a _thing_."

"You are so much more than that." Another voice interrupted whatever Iriana was going to say and Lissandra gasped as _everyone_ moved to stand between her and a door that had just opened nearby. A female form in a patient gown stood in the door, leaning against it as if weak. An Excalibur warframe strode out of the room, trying to push her back into it, but she wasn't budging. "We did not intend to hurt either of you!" Alicia said as firmly as she could. Not very. "Ancestors know, the _last_ thing I wanted to do… was hurt you after everyone else I have hurt!" She shook off the Excalibur's hands and snarled at him. "Back off, X! I need to say this!"

"Alicia!" The Excalibur said grimly. "You are not well and you are under arrest. Go back to bed. Don't make me or Tiana hurt you. _Please!_ " He begged.

"This needs to be said!" Alicia snapped and staggered forward a step. The Excalibur grabbed her arm but she slid out of his grip and took another step, only to pause as Iriana and all the others formed a wall in front of Lissandra. "It is not your fault, human Lissandra! It is _mine!_ " Everything seemed to come to a sudden halt as Alicia sank to her knees, halfway to where Lissandra stood as if frozen. The unarmed female Tenno bowed her head. "I found out what was happening and I did not report it through the proper channels. I did not feel there was time. If I had, perhaps this would not have happened."

"Anyo was going to attack the Clergy to take me." Lissandra said into the silence that greeted Alicia kneeling. "Such would have started an open war." Alicia nodded. "Why?"

"Because what he has done is not Cell Free." Alicia said very quietly. "But it is just as bad in some ways. He lost control of the orphanage facility and is grasping at straws to try and stop what is happening without killing his son."

"His son?" Lissandra demanded, pushing past Cass to stare at the kneeling Tenno. "Derf Anyo?"

"Truth is difficult to separate from his rants, but what we got said that his son was running a clandestine orphanage. One not under the Clergy's oversight." Alicia was gasping, but she jerked away when the Excalibur tried to lay his hand on her shoulder. "She needs to know the _truth!_ "

"Truth varies from person to person." Lissandra said sourly and then rage reared up in her voice. She tried to tamp it down, but it would not be denied. "Why should I believe anything you say? You kidnapped me! Brainwashed me!"

"We did." Alicia slumped. "We both hoped to explain in a better way. To ask your help while we were doing it. Even in that horrible place, we were planning to ask. When the Tenno and the Reverend Mother find out the truth, they are all going to go ballistic. It will make anything that has happened to date _pale._ The _only_ good news is that Anyo learned Bek's lesson and hasn't even _tried_ to build a C&C MOA." Lissandra stared at her, feeling faint as realization dawned and Alicia nodded. "Alad V and Bek lost a bunch of samples when Serene hit the base, but they had lost some before that and never realized it."

"Please, dear God!" Lissandra gaped as Cass gulped as well. Both Voices stood as if white gowned statues. "Tell me he didn't clone _Tenno!_ "

Just the _thought_ of what the Tenno or the Reverend Mother would do if that happened again was enough to make anyone who knew the facts pale. Iriana was ashen and from their postures, both of the Tenno in warframes were almost a bad. Then again, when Serene had gone berserk at that facility that had cloned and then slain her daughter? They _still_ told stories in dark corners of Corpus space about the Banshee's rage. Few knew _why_ she had done it and those few knew enough to be _very_ afraid of a repeat performance. _Especially_ since the female in question now led the Clergy!

"He did not." Alicia reassured Lissandra who relaxed just a little. "I do not know whether or not he tried, but none of the records we confiscated said anything about Tenno. What is there is bad enough. Three girls, three boys. All made from stolen samples and enhanced with his idea of perfect technology."

"Cloned humans." Lissandra swallowed hard. "Are you _sure_ they are human?" She inquired carefully After the mess that had resulted from hybrid human/Tenno children that had made the Clergy seek a new Reverend Mother? Oh yes. _Everyone_ who knew anything about it was wary about _that_ as well.

"I cannot be totally sure, but none of the records I saw said anything out of the ordinary beyond what he did to them. That is enough of a mes as it is. I didn't see them." Alicia wilted. "The lab is quarantined due to the game program getting loose. That is why he wanted a Cyberlancer and medic. That is what it took to stop Cell Free." She slumped and then caught herself before she fell. "At least this time, the data quarantine held."

"Such a quarantine will not hold such a thing. It was tried. That is… _If_ we can believe anything you say." Ali said savagely. "Your methods inspire almost as much trust as mine and Salia's did."

"Call Nyx." Alicia said with a wince. "I won't resist. If she looks, she can see I am telling the truth as I know it. Yes, we abducted you and the sergeant, human Lissandra. Yes, we brainwashed you because brainwashing him wouldn't work. He escaped twice, was recaptured twice and the third time, he was injured very badly. You saved his life and blew your cover. We were trying to stop an all out war between the Clergy and Anyo. When we found out about them, we were trying to find a way to save the kids. That was less than twenty minutes before the Sentients showed up. We did not have time to call for help. That is the honest truth as I know it."

"Nyx is busy talking to Hayden Tenno." Cass growled and Alicia wilted further. "I am betting she will be a while and the discussion will be loud."

"No bet." Came from Ali, the Excalibur _and_ Iriana.

"Then Iriana can do a mindscan!" Alicia pleaded as the Excalibur stepped up to her side. "All of my anti-interrogation protocols were trashed by what Nyx did to me. Please! You have to believe me! I didn't _mean_ …. I was trying to _help!_ "

"Alicia..." Iriana sighed deeply. 'You know we cannot trust you-" She broke off as Alicia's hand flashed and then the Healer gasped as Alicia produced something long and sharp. The Excalibur took a step forward, but Alicia snarled as she pressed the scalpel she had apparently purloined to her own throat.

"No one can trust me now." Alicia started to push the scalpel home, even as Iriana and the Excalibur closed in on her, but Ali was suddenly at her side. Somehow, he had her hands in his and was pulling the scalpel away from the wound she had torn in her throat. He twisted them behind her and they were bound somehow.

"You don't get off that easy, Tenno." Ali said sourly, but then he stopped as Lissandra laid Lilly in Cass' hands and stepped forward. "Human Lissandra..." He warned as Lissandra went to her knees beside Alicia even as the Excalibur grabbed her and Iriana started pulling equipment out.

Lissandra did not speak. She simply laid her hand over the horrific wound that Alicia had torn in her own neck. The Tenno's blood fell down over her fingers, but she pressed tight as Iriana started to work.

"No!" Alicia tried to pull away, but between Ali and the Excalibur, she was going _nowhere_. "Don't! I will infect you!"

"No, you won't." Lissandra said very quietly as Iriana started to work. "I filter the Virus too." She held the wound closed as Iriana worked and then the Healer pulled the human girl's hand away to show new skin when a wound had gaped. "I tried to suicide that way once." She slumped. "It didn't work."

Her pain was given voice for just a moment and then…

Lissandrs jerked as a hand landed on her shoulder. She stared up at the Nyx Prime warframe that held Tiana.

"Do you wish her life?" Tiana asked. She sounded odd. Almost anticipatory?

"No!" Lissandra snapped. "I heal! I do not kill! There is enough death! Enough horror! I do not need to add to it! I am angry! Who wouldn't be?"

"Anyone would be after such ordeals." Ali was looking at Tiana and his posture was odd. Respectful? "There are other ways to punish."

Itiana finished treating Alicia who just slumped in the Excalibur's hands as he relieved her of the scalpel and then started searching her carefully. She looked from Tiana to Lissandra, to Cass and then back to the Nyx.

"You are so right." _Tiana knelt in front of Lissandra!_ She crossed her arms and bowed her head over the arms. "Sister to sister, yours in life and death."

Lissandra felt her eyes bulge and her jaw fall open as Iriana knelt as well. She too crossed her arms, bowed her head and spoke the same words.

"What?" Lissandra begged. "What are you doing?"

"They are offering you a family. Restitution the only way they _can._ " Ali said carefully. "Those words predate Orokin. The First Tenno used those words to welcome aspirants into the ranks of his followers."

"Not at first." Everyone spun to see Nyx standing at the door, Hayden beside her. The male Tenno's face was ashen and his posture was subdued. It might have had something to do with the _nine_ Prime Warframes aiming weapons at him. "It took some time for us to formalize such."

"But what does that _mean?_ " Lissandra begged as _the Excalibur_ knelt and crossed his arms, bowing his head to her! He too spoke the words, substituting 'brother' for 'sister'. Alicia could not raise her arms, but she bowed her head and spoke the same words.

"It means that if you take us up on our offer..." Tiana's head rose, but the rest of her did not move. "...then the _only_ way _anyone_ will _ever_ hurt you or your loved ones again is over _our dead bodies._ " The fury that sang in her tone was not directed at Lissandra. "We know loss. We know pain and fear. We are Karl's Shadow and we offer you all that we are. Not your ability. _You._ " She nodded at Lissandra's stunned expression. "You are human. That does not make you better or worse than anyone else. It makes you different and we know _all_ about being different." She paused and then she chuckled. "Besides, we could use your help with Mercedes."

The Excalibur, Alicia, and Iriana all nodded fervently. Lissandra stared around at them all and then back at Tiana.

"Mercedes?" Lissandra all but begged as Cass moved to her side, Lilly whining in his hands. Another warframe stepped forward with a cloth to wipe Lissandra's hands clean of Alicia's blood. The Volt Prime warfrme was shaking his head as he stepped back, but he seemed more amused than angry. "The Mercedes I knew?"

"Mercedes has a baby boy." Tiana had a smile in her voice now. Lissandra jerked as realization struck. "Yes, she and the Commander formed a partnership. The problem? She wants more kids."

" _More_ … kids..." Lissandra swallowed hard. "Ah..."

"Yeah." Tiana winced and Iriana shared it. "She wants them natural and the Commander is a bit leery about her enthusiasm." She shook her head. "So are _we_. The _last_ thing we need in a Tenno Dojo is a bunch of 'rugrats' as he calls them running around. One or two would be no big deal. Mercedes is talking about _ten_. She wants five girls and five boys." Her tone left little to the imagination as to how she felt about that.

"Ten kids." Lissandra felt faint and Cass plopped Lilly into her arms. The puppy's squirming had the girl relaxing a bit. "That is not a good idea."

"You know that. I know that. Hell, the _Healer_ knows that." Tiana chuckled, but it held little mirth. "Mercedes seems to be cut from the same strip of stubborn as her husband. Maybe _you_ can convince her that such is a bad idea." She made a sour noise. "Please? Vina will bless you in very waking breath if we can get Mercedes to focus on something other than procreation for a while."

"But… I..." Lissandra looked at Nyx who slowly shook her head.

"I was going to offer such myself." Nyx admitted. "You don't deserve to be alone any more. I like you, Lissandra."

"But… I am human!" Lissandra pleaded.

" _So?_ " Nyx and Tiana chorused.

Lissandra turned to Cass who sighed and then laid his hand on her arm.

"I am probably not going to survive this, Lissandra." Cass warned her. She stiffened, but he continued. "That said? You do not deserve to be alone. I have dealt with these Tenno before. They are crazy, but if they give such an oath, they keep it."

"Why, thank you." Tiana said so dryly that Cass flashed an obscene gesture her way. She turned to Lissandra who was shaking her head. "You may be immortal now. You may not. We know about living far longer than others, Lissandra. We know about people trying to use us. We know about suddenly having abilities that scare us. We know about secrets. Alone, you are vulnerable. With us? You _will not be._ "

Steel might have bent into a pretzel under the Tenno's words.

"But… If Anyo has made a game program like the one that so frightened people..." Lissandra pleaded. "Don't I need to stop it?"

"Not alone." Tiana, Iriana, Alicia, the Excalibur, Nyx and Hayden all chorused. Hayden bowed to Lissandra.

"I give apology." Hayden said quietly. "I planned to explain, not simply hurt you."

"I do not trust you." Lissandra snapped and Ali nodded to her. She turned to Tiana and then she looked at Lilly. "What do you think?"

 _I need the facilities._ Lilly warned.

"Well, we can't have you making a mess on the floor." Lissandra chuckled and gave herself a shake. "We have enough messes."

"That we do." Nyx agreed. "You don't need to answer them today, Lissandra, but it would be polite."

"Can Cass come?" Lissandra asked.

"As long as he doesn't try to hack anything." Tiana made a soft noise of disgruntlement as Cass tried to look innocent. "Be warned, Sergeant. Olim and Quais call the dojo home, You are not going to out-hack those two. If you step out of line? I know where I can find Violet."

"You wouldn't!" Cass stilled.

"Try me! She still likes forks." Tiana growled and Lissandra had to laugh at the betrayed look on Cass' face. The human sighed deeply and then nodded to the kneeling Tenno in the Nyx warframe.

"What do I say?" Lissandra asked as Lilly squirmed. "We better get Lilly to facilities soon."

"Informally, a 'yes' will do. Formally? Repeat what I said." Tiana bowed to her and Lissandra intoned the words.

"Sister to sister, yours in life and death."


	14. Chapter 14

**Ballistic shifts**

(A day later)

"Is it just me or does she look bigger?"

Cass' quiet words were meant for Lissandra's ears only and Lissandra nodded just a little as Lilly caught the long thing that Lissandra had tossed halfheartedly. The Kubrow looked very pleased with herself as she dragged the long rubberized rod back towards her humans. They had all three been quite bored in the large cargo bay so, they had asked for something to do that would not cause problems and it had been provided.

"She is bigger." Lissandra knelt down to take the stick from Lilly and gave the Kubrow a scratch behind the ears as Lilly looked up at her expectantly. "You are growing up, Lilly." Lissandra said as she continued to scratch.

 _I am still yours and you are still mine._ Lilly replied. _Size doesn't matter._

"It might actually." Cass snickered as both female glared at him. "And no, I am not being obscene."

 _Why do I not believe you?_ Lilly demanded, but her rumbles were contented rather than upset as her human partner continued to scratch.

"Because you are a smart Kubrow." Lissandra was quick with a smiled rejoinder. Cass gave her a betrayed look, but she ignored him to focus on the now happily panting Kubrow. "That said, size can be a disadvantage at times." She shook her head. "Growing up in Fortuna, we both learned what being small was good for."

"Getting into places that others could not. Places grown ups could not get into. The vents were where I lived after my parents died." Cass agreed, his eyes far away. He paused as Lilly rose, stepped to his side and nuzzled his hand. "I am all right, Lilly. Just sad. I worked hard to forget that part of my life."

 _And now, you have to go back._ Lilly said softly, still nuzzling his hand. _So the sadness is back too._

"Yes." Cass sighed. "I left a long time ago. None of the names that we were told mean anything to me. You?" He asked Lissandra who frowned and shook her head.

"The name we were given, 'Eudico', sounds familiar, but I am not sure from where." Lissandra mused. "I do not think I knew her, but there is lot I don't remember from after the purges until I woke in the Clergy's hospital." She slumped a bit. "I know my family did not survive but part of me wishes I knew what happened. The rest of me is pretty sure she does not want to know."

"I know that feeling." Cass replied, giving Lilly a scratch. Lissandra looked at him and he shook his head. "I… Uh… I looked. After I was in Special Forces, they don't want us to have any loose ends so, they clean them up. For me? They didn't have to. It was an accident, not enemy action and to this day, I wish I hadn't been curious."

"Special Forces _kill_ people who might be liabilities?" Lissandra asked weakly.

"Not always. That is the fastest solution, but not always the best." Cass shrugged. "What we do is not nice, polite or even clean. We have to be free to act in ways that others find repugnant. It does not always work out that way, we are human and fallible, but it gives potential enemies far less leverage on us if we are blank slates. Everything is recorded, backed up, so our genetics are known and enemies who ID us _will_ use any information they can find to try and subvert us. Like what Anyo did when he took me. Even fake identities don't help unless we fuzz our DNA and that sucks bigtime."

Such energy as was needed to fundamentally alter DNA could do all kinds of damage to fragile human forms.

"That is not something you can do after each mission, no. But you have." Lissandra winced as Cass nodded. "I um… I hope I never have to. My ability would likely keep it from working." Lilly looked at her and Lissandra shrugged. "It would not work and not be pleasant." She looked at her chronometer. "Time?"

"Not yet." Cass replied. "Soon." He patted the holstered Detron at his hip and looked at her as she stared down at the holster on her own hip. She had not drawn the Spectra since he had given it to her. "I know the pistol makes you uncomfortable, but we _cannot_ let him push around. If we let him, he will walk all over us, put us both in slave collars or worse."

"He knows that if he does, the Reverend Mother rips him to pieces slowly. Let alone what the _Special Forces_ have been doing." Lissandra snarled and both of the others looked at her. "I… I am angry. Furious even. Both that I have to come back at all and that my life is dependent on people that terrify me." She shook her head. "I never thought to see _Board Members_ about to wet themselves."

That had been one for the record books indeed. Both that Rachel had let the pair of them watch the Reverend Mother rip Anyo apart in perfectly legal and bloodless holographic combat disguised as debate and then what the Board and decreed. That Cass and Lissandra would be allowed to try and stop the mess from getting any worse. Nothing had been said about 'afterwards'. Both humans feared what that meant. The Tenno were calm. The clan that Tiana led considered Lissandra a sister now and had pledged protection as well as assistance if needed, but Tenno were incredibly vulnerable to such things. That made sense, when one thought about it. Tenno were energy and neural energy was what the game program manipulated with ease. Probably why Anyo had started investigating it in the first place after all of his humiliating defeats at Tenno hands.

"A first for me too. None of them had any idea what he had done until she showed them the files." Cass replied. "Even Anyo seemed subdued for a moment after she told them what he had done. How close he mirrored the horror of the past. The only thing that saved any of his fortune was that he clearly had no idea what he was doing. The fines the Board will levy would likely make Frohd Bek wince but it is far better than us all being destroyed."

"That is the reason the Clergy exists." Lissandra sighed, relaxing a bit. "To keep such things from destroying us all."

Whatever Cass was going to say in response was cut off as the floor underneath them lurched. Lilly barked in fear as Lissandra and Cass grabbed each other. They sank to the floor around Lilly who was quaking in fear.

"What was that?" Lissandra demanded as the floor lurched again.

"We are on final approach to the facility!" Cass snapped, his focus far away as he queried the ship's automated systems. No one had dared use a manned transport to drop them at their target for fear of the game subverting the pilots. Rookie Cyberlancer or no, Cass made a darned good pilot for drone ships. "The automated defenses are firing on us! That doesn't make any sense! We have all the right codes!"

"What part of _any_ of this makes sense!?" Lissandra demanded as Cass shoved her towards a hatch marked 'escape pods'. "Are we close enough to walk?"

"It is the Vallis! Your guess is as good as mine!" Cass snarled as he slid with her towards the natch. Lilly half ran, half slid and then careened into the hatch, slapping the 'open' switch with a paw. Cass smiled at her and then slammed his helmet visor closed. "Lissandra, close your helmet!"

She tried. She was activating it when a thunderous impact drove all thought from Lissandra's mind. Her last sight was Cass reaching for her.

* * *

Later

She was cold. So cold. She was lying on a surface that was cold, but warm. Familiar.

Voices came from far away.

"Here! She is here! Oh my god! Get her into the pod! Now!" Many people were talking as hands grabbed hold of Lissandra, and pain flared all across her body.

Something changed. Air pressure? White hot agony tore through Lissandra and she screamed as loud as she could. A croak sounded. Was that her voice?

"No." The voice from close at hand said sternly. "Don't try to talk or move, Operative Lissandra. You are a mess." The voice was female, and familiar. She was also clearly in charge. "Who the hell shot the ship down? Tell Medical we have her and are bringing her in Code Three. She needs surgery _now!_ "

"Cass!" Lissandra tried to plead and then it all went away.

She was floating in something…

No, she was lying on a hard bed as someone wiped her face with a soft cloth...

She was on a hard metal table as cold metallic hands touched her. Familiar machinery moved around her, sharp edges glistening in the harsh light. A pressure on her nose and mouth and a hiss and she was falling...

She was…

* * *

Still later

Lissandra woke to familiar sounds. She knew without opening her eyes that she was in the medical ward of Fortuna. The sounds were so familiar it hurt. Her first memories were of this place and a soft, sad voice that she would never hear again.

"I know you are awake." The female voice was not one she knew, but she had heard it. Eudico, the appointed floor boss of Fortuna. "You should be able to talk."

"How bad?" Lissandra still did not open her eyes.

"None of the medics expected you to survive." Eudico said quietly. "They do not know the truth. I have stepped on them calling it a miracle."

"It is not one." Lissandra opened her eyes and the room was dark. She turned her head and nothing hurt. She saw the gray body from that sat nearby and the cybernetic head nodded to her. "My companions?"

"Two escape pods were launched and the defenses didn't fire on either of them. They blew the rest of the ship to pieces." Eudico said with a sigh. "No one has any idea why they fired to begin with. None of us anyway. Anyo's goons are falling all over themselves trying to placate their boss. From how they are reacting? They didn't do it either."

"All the codes were his, so it shouldn't have happened." Lissandra sat up, checking herself automatically. Her body was pristine, as always. Her ability did not like her being injured. She had even regenerated lost limbs. "I need to get to the facility."

"Anyo is demanding that you be carried there in an armored convoy." Eudico had a frown in her voice.

"If it is broadcasting his codes, won't the defenses activate?" Lissandra said slowly and Eudico nodded.

"We know the Taxmen have lost troops and proxies trying to get in." Eudico replied. "They won't say how many, but lots. And as to why? No one has any idea."

"Cass said all the codes were current, so..." Lissandra shook her head as she saw a Corpus ship suit laid out nearby. It looked brand new. "Anyone trying to get in with his authority gets shot at?" She inquired and Eudico nodded. "That sounds like someone has subverted the place."

"No one we know." Eudico replied. "And believe me as soon as you went down, we got _crowded_. The Tenno in particular are not happy. Personally? Not happy about having Clergy running around, but I am not going to argue with them when the Tenno are not."

"Cass?" Lissandra asked.

"When we got to the other escape pod, it was empty." Eudico slumped a bit. "There were signs of a human and Kubrow in it, but no one was there when we searched. No tracks, no nothing. No bodies." She offered.

"Then I am not counting him out." Lissandra stood up, ignoring the fact that she was not wearing anything to pull the Corpus suit to herself. As she had half expected, it was marked as one of Anyo's. She wadded it up and tossed it aside. Eudico was clearly staring at her as Lissandra shook her head. "I am not his and I refuse to wear his crap. Not the least of which because it has to have a bunch of sensors and stuff in it. Also, anything that is marked as his is likely a target."

"They have been disabled." Eudico said slowly as Lissandra rose to her full height. "You would walk out like that. Starkers."

"You are damned right I would." Lissandra faced the floor boss, not giving an inch. Eudico moved to block the door, her own posture resigned.

"You are still hurt, girl." The leader of Fortuna said with a sigh. "I ain't gonna let you go get yourself killed. Not after all of this."

"You can't stop me." Lissandra felt a feeling start to build. A feeling she had denied for along, long time. It wasn't anger. It wasn't rage. It wasn't anything that most mental specialists would recognize. The few who would? They would run! The white bandage that scoured her emotions clean did what it did. The feeling that Lissandra had denied for most of her life took over and Eudico took a sudden step back. "And I am not the one who is going to die if you do not get out of my way."

"What are you, girl?" Eudico all but begged that as she blocked the door with her body. Lissandra did not move.

"She looks nothing like her, but the voice? The manner? It is her. _Cassandra's daughter._ " An unexpected voice had both females spinning to the wall as a hidden hatch slid aside and a bent form stepped in. Her face was visible behind its normally closed hatch and it was pale. "I didn't believe it. Gee. Oh my god, girl. Long time. You ain't aged at all."

"Zuud? What?" Eudico stared from the newcomer to Lissandra and then she hissed. " _Cassandra?_ The nurse?" She gasped. "The nurses'...! _Gee?! Oh no!_ " Terror blossomed.

Then again? The girl known as Gee had earned such feelings from all sorts. There was a very good reason that the Reverend Mother had kept Lissandra away from any conflict for so long that had nothing to do with worry about her life. It had everything to do with the lives of everyone else! Gee had been a borderline sociopath personality _before_ several scum taxmen had taken her and hurt her as a child after her dad had been killed trying to stop them from doing it. After? She had been a _weapon_. No more. One that various people had used and learned to never use again. She wasn't sure if the Tenno knew, but if so? _They_ would understand.

"Move." Lissandra said in a totally dead voice and Eudico shook her head, but Zuud stepped forward, an oblong thing in her hand that she held out to Lissandra. A pistol.

"You was hurt, bad. None of us thought ya would make it, but ya got better." Zuud said softly as Lissandra took the pistol from her. "I missed ya, Gee. All of us missed ya." Madness sang in her tone, but more regret. "Chatter says ya need that. I made it thinkin' of you. You will find it fits."

"Zuud! _No!_ " Eudico snapped as Lissandra spun the pistol in her hand. The feeling was so familiar, but not. She hadn't held such a weapon in a long time, but she knew what it could do. Oh, she knew.

"You are not my enemy, Eudico of Fortuna. Be very glad of that." Lissandra said as she spun the pistol again and then nodded to Zuud. "Well balanced. Thank you."

"Gee is _dead_ _!_ " Eudico begged. "You cannot be her!"

"Yes, Gee is." Lissandra said softly as she nodded to Zuud and then turned to Eudico. "My name is Lissandra. As I say, I am not your enemy."

"The Business will piss his pants." Eudico gulped. He had been one of the first to learn not to use her for some things.

"I don't care." Lissandra was still unemotional. "Give me clothing, preferably armored or I am walking out of here to talk to whoever is leading the Vent Kids with nothing on."

"She will do it." Zuud warned, her tone oddly sane for a moment. Fear apparently did that to her. "You know she will."

"Yes, I do." Eudico said weakly."I barely remember… You..." She shook her head. "I will get the clothing, I just… Please! Don't _kill_ anyone!"

"I have not killed since I left Fortuna." Lissandra was still a rock. "I have no wish to kill again. What I was here was needed at the time, but I am not who I was. Be very glad of that."

"I am." Eudico slumped a bit. "Do I want to know what happened to you after the purges?"

"No." Lissandra said flatly. "I need to talk to the Clergy and the Tenno. The mission may have gone off the rails, but we can get it back on them."

"What will you do?" Eudico asked, only to pause as Zuud chortled, a hint of malicious madness entering her laughter. "Zuud!"

"You _know_ what she is gonna do!" Zuud retorted. "You _know_ why her mom kept her isolated for so long. Why Cassandra never let her out to fight."

Some weapons were simply too dangerous to let loose. Ever. The Reverend Mother knew that. Anyo or whoever had shot the ship down was about to find out along with anyone else who got in her way.

"Yeah." Eudico said weakly. "I do." She slowly forced herself to relax. "For what it is worth? Lissandra? I hope you find peace."

"The only peace I will find is a grave, Eudico." Lissandra said with a grunt as she sat and started examining the pistol. It looked as if it would fire self contained bolts of energy that would explode on impact. Knowing Zuud? Devastating impact. It also looked to have been hushed? A silenced pistol that fired explosive rounds? Ouch! "It cannot be soon enough."

"Don't give up." Zuud sounded clear headed for a moment and that seemed even more shocking. "Ya ain't who ya was. Ya gots a chance to be better. Your mom tried."

"She did. So did many others." Lissandra bowed her head and started to sing softly.

' _Dance, then, wherever you may be,_

 _I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,  
_

 _And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,  
_

 _And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he'_

The white in her mind retreated, but it wasn't gone. It was never gone. It never would be. She jerked as _Zuud_ started to sing as well!

 _I danced in the morning when the world was begun,_

 _And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,_

 _And I came down from Heaven and I danced on the Earth,_

 _In Bethlehem I had my birth,…_

Now, Eudico was singing softly. Her voice wasn't great, but she too remembered the old tune Lissandra's mother had taught the girl to help her after her personal troubles. The evil inside the girl wouldn't go away, but maybe, just maybe, Lissandra could survive.

The question?

How many _others_ would.

* * *

 **' Lord of the Dance' is obviously not my work.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Safety devices**

Lissandra was praying.

The room was not small, but it felt that way. Eudico had finally managed to get Zuud to leave but did not even bother to try when the others arrived. Ali stood to one side, an oddly indistinct Nyx Prime warframe at his side. Another Tenno stood by the door. He was odd too. He hadn't spoken at all, but he hadn't had to. The dark brown Loki warframe had never taken his hand off his pistol the whole time. Frankly? That was a comfort! Lissandra knew to within millimeters exactly how far she would go, especially now. She knew just how hard it would be to stop her. The Clergy had learned and so had she. Was that a _Snipetron_ slung across his back? Not a common weapon at all. He was a member of the Karl's Shadow clan of Tenno, that was clear from the hologram on his shoulder that matched the one on her own space suit's shoulder, but other than that? She knew nothing about him.

The other two people in the room were distinctly uncomfortable. The Voice clearly wasn't happy with all of the incredible violence that was ready to happen at a moment's notice. The Clergyman who knelt at Lissandra's side ignored the hostility that surrounded him to aid Lissandra and no one had gainsaid his presence. At least, not yet. Sooner or later, someone would. He was Corpus after all, and such were not welcome in Fortuna after all of Anyo's excesses. That said? He was _Clergy_. Not one of Anyo's goons, so everyone would also give him a bit of space. Wise.

Lissandra finished her prayers and nodded to the Clergyman who smiled at her, but his smile was melancholy.

"They helped." Lissandra reassured him. "Thank, you Brother Crisotofer." The warmth in her tone was not faked and everyone relaxed as the white that smothered Lissandra's mind receded from the power of her faith. It was not gone, but it was pushed back a bit further and she could function.

"You are quite welcome, Sister Lissandra." The Clergyman rose and held out a hand that she took. She shook her head a she rose, but he did as well. "That is who you are now. What was done to you destroyed the woman you were."

"The monster I was cannot be destroyed except with my own death." Lissandra said very quietly. "Not even mind wipes work." She said sadly. "They tried." She made a face when Eudico gasped.

"Gee… I..." Eudico began, but Lissandra and Cristofer both shook their heads and the floor boss corrected herself. "Okay. _Lissandra_." She said firmly. "Everyone thought you were dead. You vanished after… After your mom was found." Her cybernetic head bowed. "All they found was your board." Lissandra shrugged and Eudico continued. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I went after the ones who did it." Lissandra said quietly. "I found them." Her tone left nothing to the imagination as to what had happened when she had found the ones who had killed her mother. "Then I tried to die. I failed."

Calm. Clear. Matter of fact. _Horrifying!_

"The Corpus caught you and they made you into a tool." Eudico sounded sick as Lissandra nodded. "And then… The Clergy…?" She inquired.

"The scum who had her crossed more than a few lines that are _not_ to be crossed. We took steps when we discovered what had been done to her." Brother Cristofer said with a growl as he patted Lissandra's shoulder. "What happened to Lissandra was a horror, but also a miracle. We are torn about her. She is in pain and will be for the rest of her existence, but she is a miracle as well. We all love her." He face turned sick. "We are sharply divided about her repeated requested for euthanasia."

"You do not want to live like this." Eudico said, her tone musing.

"Would _you?_ " Lissandra countered. Eudico shook her head, but did not comment further and Lissandra sighed. "My past is not germane at the moment. If that program breaks the data quarantine, we haven't _seen_ bad yet." Ali, Nyx and the still unnamed Tenno in the Loki warframe all nodded. "Cass will need my help to end the program."

"You know what to do?" Eudico asked carefully. "Every attempt to enter that area gets shot at or shot down. The automated defenses are no joke. We stay away from them." She admitted.

"Oh, I can get in." Lissandra shrugged as Eudico stared at her. "Did they reply?"

"They did, but I honestly do not understand what they told me." Eudico sounded baffled now. "Their whole lexicon is hard to decipher."

"Intentionally." Lissandra shrugged. "I take it they want to talk to me in person?"

"Outside." Eudico said weakly. "But..." She broke off as Lissandra patted Brother Cristofer's arm and started for the door. "Um..." Eudico looked at the Tenno who shrugged. "You do know what the outside is like, right?" She was clearly not expecting Lissandra to chuckle. "What?"

"The suit I am wearing, the one Brother Cristofer brought me..." Lissandra smiled at the Clergyman as she patted the life support belt of her suit. "It looks like a regular Corpus space suit, but it is much better than any standard gear. Yes. I know what the Vallis is like. I am bit out of date, but I do know what to do and how."

She made her way to the door and it opened for her. Outside, a small crowd had gathered. She ignored them to stride the halls as if completely unconcerned. Eudico and the Tenno followed. Brother Cristofer and the Voice did not. Out the hall, up a ramp and to the main elevator that led from the sheltered area tot he Venusian wasteland called Orb Vallis. Lissandra strode to the elevator and ignored the male form that appeared from a shadowed alcove nearby.

"Girl. I..." The Business said softly. He broke off as Lissandra shook her head.

"I do not know you." Lissandra pointedly did not look at him. "Be very glad of that."

Again, calm. Clear. Matter of fact. _Horrifying!_ _Everyone_ stilled as the Business backed up a step.

"Business?" Erudico asked softly. "What did you do?"

"It is the past." Lissandra said as she waited for the elevator. "It cannot be changed any more than I can go back to being who I was. _What_ I was."

"All I can say is I am sorry!" The Business said quickly as the elevator dinged and Lissandra stepped forward. She stopped halfway in, the Tenno and Ali beside her. She still did not look at him!

"Your 'sorry' cannot bring my parents back." Lissandra said with a growl. "It cannot bring my humanity back. But if you _ever_ do that to another lost and hurting little girl, I _will_ find you."

Again, calm, cold and matter of fact. More than one person shuddered at her utterly dead tone.

"What?" Eudico said weakly, staring from one to the other. None of the Tenno moved as Lissandra stepped fully into the elevator.

"The end justifies the means." Lissandra held the elevator as the Tenno and Ali entered. "The end was freedom so the life and soul of one little orphan girl who was praying for a family was immaterial. The fates of her foster parents were also immaterial." Eudico hissed as The Business bowed his head. "Do _not_ think I do not know why my foster father died, Business. Do not _ever_ think that."

"I never heard this." Eudico sounded upset now.

"I did not know the truth myself until I was trying to find closure." Lissandra unbent just a little. "Trying with all my heart and soul to put the demon that is inside me somewhere safe. To make myself safe to be around others. To find a better way. I had to face my past to begin anew. The Clergy had access to all kinds of records. _All kinds_. I had no idea what I would find. The _Clergy_ had no idea. If they had? They never would have let me start looking if they had known. It took years of therapy before I could go out again after that."

"What happened?" Eudico moved to the door, her hand coming up, only to fall as Lissandra shook her head.

"Let the past remain where it is, Floor Boss Eudico." Lissandra said firmly. "Cassandra's daughter Gee is dead. Let her stay that way. _Many_ people will breath heartfelt sighs of relief. I am not her. Be very glad of that."

"I am." Eudico said softly. "For what it is worth? The end may indeed justify the means, but I know that even the most grievous of hurts do not make the means _right_ sometimes."

"Good." Lissandra stepped forward and took Eudico's hand in her own. "Not everyone gets a second chance, Eudico. I hope you make the most of it." She ignored the Business as he held out hand to her. Eudico batted it away, her posture half fear angry, half fearful. Lissandra ignored that too. "Good luck to you, Eudico."

"And to you, _Lissandra_." Eudico gave her hand a squeeze and then released it to retreat, blocking access to the elevator.

Lissandra smiled a bit forlornly as the door closed, cutting off Business' protest.

"Will it hurt the clan?" The Loki finally spoke. Lissandra looked at him and he shook his head. "Your past?"

"I doubt it but I am not entirely sure." Lissandra admitted. "I never expected to come back here at all. It is a big solar system, after all. I never expected the white to surface again." She slumped a bit. "I should have."

"It is a coping mechanism, not a death sentence no mater how much one may wish such." The Loki replied and she stared at him. "I too know the curse, sister."

"Then you know what to do if I cannot stop myself." Lissandra said quietly and was relieved when he nodded. "Thank you."

"I will try not to kill you if I can help it." The Loki promised. "My wife would kick my butt and I don't even what to _think_ what Iriana would do to me." He shuddered dramatically enough that Lissandra had to smile. But then she sobered.

"If it comes down to it, do not hesitate!" Lissandra warned him. "I will likely regenerate any damage, although it may take a while, depending on how catastrophic the damage is. That is why he wanted me as a tool, The Business did. A kid who cannot die? Oh yes. He and so many others wanted that tool and weapon. I... So many things..." She shuddered in memory and Ali laid a hand on her arm.

"Do not take more upon yourself than is yours to bear, child." Ali's tone held faint reproof. "The universe may not care if you break, but there are many who will. Whatever evil you have done before, now? You are not evil and you can chose your path forward."

"Would that I had been half as wise when I was a child." Lissandra said sadly. "If I had realized the truth, my foster father might not have died trying to protect me." She shook her head as the elevator dinged. "Time for reminiscing later. Let me do the talking."

" _Gladly_." The Loki said fervently enough that Lissandra had to grin again as she closed her helmet.

Just outside the door, there they were. Two small forms in badly fitting armor that wasn't anything that anyone had mass produced. Not that the Vent Kids ever mass produced _anything_ but chaos. Before either could speak, Lissandra did.

"I know what it looks like, but I ain't no boxhead." Lissandra said with a snap that was unlike her. Both kids stiffened as she spun to the side, striding for a corner of the huge smelting facility. "You is Rocky and Boon." She said as she walked. "Pobbers and Kubradons?" She scoffed. "Pathetic, the lot o' ya."

"Ya talk big, oldster." The girl replied with a snap of her own. "You gots skill to match that grunt?"

"I did." Lissnadra was looking at a particular corner of the facility, up underneath a set of pipes. She smiled as she reached up under and her fingers found a hidden switch. "Been awhile, but ya don forget."

"No old Corpus broad can match skill of a Vent Kid, let alone a Kubradon!" The boy replied, anger rising. He sneered at the Loki who had followed when Ali and Nyx had not. "Some of the glintys got skill, but few got any flash."

"For them, it most bout results." Lissandra said as she started off again. Everyone else looked at one another and then followed her, the girl jumping up on a K-Drive that swept here and there as Lissandra moved to a blank wall. "Most gots no past and no future, so they focus on nows, not might be's."

Everyone stiffened as she removed her right hand glove and laid her bare hand against the cold metal of the facility. The Loki jerked as if to start forward, but she shook her head and the metal glowed. The patch showed a hand print, far too low to the ground to be sized for an adult. Everyone gawked as a thin piece of metal shot to the side, showing a dark hollow. Lissandra reached in with her gloved hand and pulled something out. When she laid her bare right hand on it, it flashed to life and both of the Vent Kids gasped as the K-Drive started to hum. It was not a normal one! Where a K-Drive was usually a flat board with two drive units at back, this one was curved on the bottom and had _three_ drive units. It also had an odd, almost beak like prow. Was that some kind of _bird_ painted on the underside? A metal bird?

"That..." Boon sounded shocked. When she looked, he had paled. "That.. That _Twister's Board!_ "

"Yeah, it is." Lissandra smiled as she laid the board down and then slid her glove back on. She would need it. The Metal Raptor was not easy to operate at the best of times and she was very rusty. She had little time however.

"How'd ya nick that?" Roky demanded, her tone furious.

"Any fool try to nick this gets boomed." Lissandra retorted as she jumped up in old reflex and her feet found their places. She looked at the Vent Kids who were clearly expecting an explosion. "Been tried."

"You..." Roky shook her head savagely. "Ya ain't Twister! Twister dead!"

"Yeah, Twister _is_ dead." Lissandra said sadly and then, without warning, she kicked her controls. The board shot into the sky where she did two cartwheels and a half clutch spin before landing perfectly. She sighed deeply as both both Vent Kids gawked. She keyed another control and music sounded. Something about 'We're not going to take it'! Both Vent Kids were on their boards now as the Loki produced one of his own and mounted. All of them seemed wary as Lissandra hovered and spun in a full 360 degree copter. She laughed at the old familiar feeling of freedom as she landed just as perfectly as before. "Been a long time. Name is Lissandra. Got to see if I still got it. Try to keep up!"

With that, she took off and left _everything_ in her dust.

* * *

Elsewhere

Cass swam back to consciousness, aware of Lilly whining in pain and fear. He remembered tossing Lissandra into an escape pod and then, nothing. His senses cast out, hearing and code both. He jerked as the code was rebuffed.

"None of that, young man." A firm female voice sounded nearby and then his code was tossed back into his body by something that felt golden? He opened his eyes and froze. He was lying on a bed in a room that screamed 'Company' but not. The walls, floor, lights, all of that was Corpus metal and plastic. But the rest of it was not. The bed he was lying in was definitely not company standard. It was three times the size of even the largest Corpus executive bed that Cass had ever seen. It was also connected to several pieces of very high tech medical gear. Things that would not have been out of place in any Orokin tower. That paled beside the golden hologram that sat beside his bed. The female looking being smiled at him. She looked human, but there was something off about her. Oddly familiar. The voice too. He knew her. Or something. "Back with us, sergeant? You scared us."

"Um..." Cass looked to the side and found Lilly lying on the bed beside him. The Kubrow had been hurt. That was clear from organic wound dressings that covered her side, but she was not hurt now. She just seemed unconscious. The other did not seem hostile and Cass felt no injuries but he was wary. He went with his gut feeling. A feeling that had never betrayed him and right now, it was screaming 'Trouble'. "Getting shot down doesn't feel good."

"No. It doesn't. I have been shot down a time or two myself and it never gets fun." The woman smiled at him, but it too was wary. "I know what your IDs say you are and I know basically _what_ you are. The question is, why are you here of all places?" She shook her head. "And before you ask, you are a prisoner."

"Yeah, figured." Cass shrugged at her expression. "I mean, if I wasn't a prisoner, you wouldn't have sedated the Kubrow, would you?"

"She was not in restraints. She hit a wall of the pod hard when you landed, _if_ you can call that a landing. She needed surgery." The other replied. "She should wake up in a few minutes fairly hungry. But you? What do we do with you?" She shook her head. "I mean, a new Cyberlancer is all well and good, but not a _Corpus_ one." She made a face. "Even Special Forces."

"I won't survive this." Cass replied and the other sat back, apparently nonplussed. "Will I?"

"You can." The other was not faking her unconcern. "It is not easy, and I would have to-" She paused and then she scoffed. "And you don't know any of that, do you? He did it and didn't tell you a damn thing, didn't he?"

"I do not know who you are talking about." Cass replied, not daring to move. He _had_ to be under observation and probably _guns_ as well.

"Don't try, sergeant." The other was angry now. "There is only _one_ being who ever learned that Cyberlancers can be _made_. He never learned _how_ , thank god!" She grimaced. "I wonder how many Hayden killed trying."

"I don't know any of that." Cass replied and shrugged as the other glared at him. "Why would I?"

"That…" The woman sighed and relaxed. "...is a very good point. Hayden is a lot of things. Sneaky might very well have been his middle name. He likely told you bugger all. I am Lynn." She said by way of belated introduction.

"Cass." The sergeant offered. "But you knew that."

"Yes. I knew that." Lynn replied. "Mind telling me something I don't know?"

Cass stared at her and then took a huge gamble. If _half_ of what he heard about this being was true, then she was far more powerful than him and also far more ethical. If she was involved in this, humanity was dead. Period.

If she _wasn't_ …

"We are not in a Corpus lab, are we?" Cass asked. "We didn't crash at the lab, did we?" Lynn just looked at him and he sighed. "We were shot down by automated defenses from a Corpus lab. We are not there, are we?"

"Why?" Lynn asked, suddenly wary.

"Because if you are involved in what is happening in that lab, we will become enemies." Cass said as he sat up. Lilly made a half moan, half growl from his side as she tried to sit up and couldn't. He patted her head and she subsided a little, but her gaze never left the holographic woman. "I do not wish that, but if you _are_ … Then my wishes are moot."

"No." Lynn said slowly, clearly thinking hard. "Your pod crashed a good three kilometers from any functional Corpus structures." She shook her head. "We did wonder why a Corpus facility shot down a Corpus ship."

She did _not_ say where he was _now_ , he noticed.

"I don't know either." Cass said with a shrug. "All of the codes were supposed to be current and it was believed that everyone inside was disabled."

"'Disabled'?" Lynn queried. "How?" She stared as Cass bowed his head. "What?"

"Question: What killed a Cyberlancer and medic to stop it last time? Answer: Nef Anyo has apparently duplicated the horror known as Cell Free." Cass asked and then his world turned bright golden as Lynn, formerly the Tenno known as Trinity, screamed in both horror and rage. When she spoke, it was tightly controlled but golden code sang around her in waves that roiled with her emotions.

"Talk."

That was not a suggestion.


	16. Chapter 16

**Cross connections**

She fell off.

It was hardly surprising that Lissandra fell off the board after misjudging a slide and slamming it into a protruding rock. She wasn't the same person. Her body didn't move as it had. She was amazed she had managed the trick jump to show off at first. It had been a long time since she had ridden a K-Drive and the last time she had? She had been blown off it and captured by the Corpus scum who had altered her to suit his whims. She didn't remember much of that and what she did? She wished she didn't. Her life with the Clergy hadn't always been fun, but her friends had tried to help her and she had found a home of sorts to replace the one she had lost.

Now? She had returned to where that had happened.

She rose to her feet atop the hill and glared at the rock that had tripped her up. Then her eyes were pulled further away. A large pyramidal building shone in the distance. It was as she remembered it. The three trailing boards slid into place beside her. The Loki on his board was silent, but both Vent Kids were giggling as Lissandra brushed herself off.

"Two kinds of grinders." Lissandra said before either Roky or Boon could insult her. "Those who done fall off their boards and those who _will_." She shrugged as she eyed the silent Corpus building. "Didn't do too bad for not having grinded in ten years."

"You ride like Twister. You talk like Twister. You ride her board. Twister was crazy." Roky said very quietly. Lissandra nodded. "And…?" The younger girl pressed.

"And Twister is dead." Lissandra focused her speech on the more proper grammar and she did not miss both Vent Kids relaxing just a little. "I am not her. She died." She shrugged. "Besides. I am too old. No Vent Kid would follow me. All the ones I knew were gone by the time I came here. The Golden Bolts were all gone, dead or too badly hurt to ride. By the time I was taken, none of the others were left."

"The board was found here." Roky said very softly. "No one dared try it out. They just put it in the slot she used and it closed up." Lissandra nodded.

"That was smart." Lissandra sighed. "There are traps on traps built into this. As you say, Twister was crazy. Suicidal, paranoid and more than a bit sociopathic. For a while, she had hope and then she found her hope slaughtered on the floor of the Vallis." She nodded to the building in the distance. "She came here for vengeance."

"Even rusty, ya gots skill. You don't want to lead?" Boon asked carefully. Lissandra scoffed at him and he bristled. "Hey!"

"None of you would follow me." Lissandra said with a snort. "That is a good thing. You have lives. You are free to soar. To ride, to live on the edge until the ground takes you." Roky and Boon both stiffened, but Lissandra wasn't done. "I am not free. If I have my way, I will not survive this." She slumped a bit. "I have lived too long as it is as a monster."

"You are not a monster." Came from the Loki. "You go on. It is all you can do."

"You do not know what Twister did." Lissandra said very softly. " _They_ do." She nodded to the Vent Kids who nodded back. She frowned a little under her helmet. "You lot still run 'Bransen's Snake'?"

"The Snake is a killer." Boon smiled wide. "You gonna try it?"

"I know it is a killer." Lissandra shrugged. "Who do you think _mapped_ it? Who set traps all along it? Who used the terrain there to kill her enemies? Either letting the ground have them or knocking them off their boards when they were way up." Both of the board riding kids jerked back at her words and she sighed. "What is your best time?"

"2, 37." Boon replied, face set. Roky looked at him and then looked away. "What?"

"Back off, Kubradon." Lissandra jumped off her board to step towards Roky who hovered back out of reach. "I am not your enemy, Pobber. How fast?"

"2, 12." Roky said with a grunt. Boon inhaled in disbelief that increased as Lissandra nodded. Roky stared form one to the other. "You know?"

" _My_ best time was 2, 07." Lissandra nodded to the other girl. "You hit the straightaway right and the cave to your left cuts off three whole seconds." Roky relaxed just a little as Boon goggled at both of them. "Gotta watch the dip though. The pond at the bottom hurts. Gotta hit the angle just right and then jump just right or you are in a world of hurt." She shuddered a bit. "Or worse? It _doesn't_ hurt for long."

"Done it slow. Don't dare do it fast. I have seen a girl try that jump fast." Roky said soberly. "Her board is still there, stuck in the middle of a plant on the cliff side. No one found her."

"Probably dissolved at the bottom of the coolant pond." Lissandra agreed. She slowly shook her head. "I am putting Twister to rest today. You two have nothing to fear from her. She will never rise again. Even if I do survive this, ride a K-Drive again, I am not her. She died in a Corpus lab, screaming her heart and soul out." Both of the Vent Kids recoiled and Lissandra slumped. "She died in chains."

"Ya is wrong." Roky jumped off her board and stepped up to Lissandra. Lissandra would not meet her eyes.

"She so wanted to stop hurting." Lissandra felt her eyes burn as she turned to the distance. To a tree that she knew and no one else ever would. The place where she had found her mother's body after the final battle between Anyo's goons and the last organized Solaris United forces. "Cassandra and Galens both tried, gave her a home, a place to hang her board. Just a safe place to sleep. Then Galens was killed and Cassandra..." She slumped. "She couldn't control the girl she called 'Gee'. To her credit, she didn't try. All Cassandra could give was her love and it was enough." Lissandra sighed. "Until it wasn't. Until that kind woman was gone and then Gee was too."

"She done good by you." Roky reached up to pat Lissandra's hand. "Ya ain't bad, _Lissandra_."

"I try real hard not to be these days, Roky." Lissandra smiled at Roky and then she shook her head. "But right now? I gotta go back to what I was. You two better get lost." She warned. "What I have to do… It isn't pretty or nice or polite. It isn't something that anyone should have to do." She paused as the Tenno dismounted for his down board and stepped to her side. "I need to go in alone."

"It does not sit well." The Loki replied. "Whatever you might have been, before? Now, you are not a warrior."

"And if you go in there, you won't come out." Lissandra replied. "Not sane anyway."

"Some say I was never sane to begin with, but I do know the facts." The Tenno replied. "I cannot stand beside you, but that doesn't mean I cannot stay here and wait to see if I can help you in any way." She stared at him as he unslung his sniper rifle and moved to the rock that had so rudely dismounted her. He crouched down beside it and suddenly, he was _gone!_ His voice came from nowhere."I will keep eyes on the facility from here."

"Sneaky Tenno." Lissandra sighed and then nodded to the two Vent Kids. "You two? Do what you gotta do. I am not who I was. She is gone and I am all that is left of her. A hurting, broken mess."

"If you had your way… What would you do?" Roky asked. Lissandra looked at her and the Vent Kid was totally serious. A first in Lissandra's experience. Boon was goggling at her.

"I don't know." Lissandra admitted as she jumped back up on her board. "For so long, my problems defined me. Now? Maybe I can make a difference." She smiled at Roky. "Don't make a song about me, please?"

"Considering what Twister said a lot about Skeg..." Boon actually gulped. "Not gonna!"

"Smart Kubradon." Lissandra laid her hand on her hip where the pistol lay and readied her K-Drive. "Stay here. I bet the defenses have been upgraded since my last visit."

She had gotten in that time, but had been hurt badly enough that she had been captured fairly easily after slaughtering the human responsible for her adopted mother's death. She had made his death memorable but the aftermath… She would be dealing with what had happened after for the rest of her long existence.

"They have." Roky said very quietly. Lissandra looked at her and the girl shook her head. "Play the right music, Lissandra." That was odd. What did she know? Boon didn't seem to notice the byplay, but Lissandra bet the Tenno did.

"I have just the tune." Lissandra said with a smile as she started to overcharge her K-Drive and it hummed in readiness. Then her tone hardened. "Do not follow me."

"I want to." Roky's tone was sad and Lissandra felt her eyes burn as the pure longing in the Vent Kid's tone registered. She truly lived to fly. To soar free. "Even knowing it gonna be a death ride, it gonna be glorious."

"Yeah. There are few things that compare to this kind of dance." Lissandra keyed her music player and the ancient strains of Twister's battle song rang out.

'One man one goal one mission,  
One heart one soul just one solution,  
One flash of light yeah one god one vision

One flesh one bone,  
One true religion,  
One voice one hope,  
One real decision,  
Wowowowo gimme one vision'

Few would ever know who had first played the tune. Maybe a few of the Tenno would remember 'Queen' and their lead guitar Freddie Mercury. No one else likely would, which was sad. It was still incredible music to this very day. Both Vent Kids were humming the lyrics as Lissandra set herself.

Then she was gone in a puff of dust and three energy contrails.

* * *

Not very nearby

"Holy _shit_."

Nikis was hardly the only one to exclaim as the assemblage watched Lissandra tear down from the mountainside. Fortuna hadn't seen such an assemblage of power in recent memory. Dozens of Tenno were present, most of the warframes hanging back away form the group that stood with Eudico, watching on the main screen as Lissandra's K-Drive charged the Corpus facility. Others stood as well. Several Corpus Special Forces had come. They were barely tolerated so two of Amelia's Voices stood between the Corpus troops and everyone else. Rachel stood with the Reverend Mother who was slumped, watching Lissandra soar as she hadn't in over a decade.

"That music..." Ali stood with Nyx who had her hand on Iriana's shoulder. He looked at Nikis. "I… ' _Iron Eagle_ '? What are the odds that such a bad movie is remembered?"

Funny how he didn't correct Nikis' language for once. He _must_ have been shocked.

"There were…seven of them, I think. Bad movies, good music. Queen." Nikis replied absently. "The movie used it, but the band put out the song a while before."

Several people hissed as fire started coming form the facility's defenses. Several turrets could bear on the charging K-Drive, but Lissandra had apparently been practicing her evasion on the way there and none of the fire came anywhere even close. She would take more fire when she got closer though. It would get both heavier and more accurate as she closed the-

Everyone gasped as Lissandra took a hit and spun away from three more shots that slammed into the area around her. She was clearly hurt, but now? She was firing _back!_ The pistol in her hand rock steady despite the insane speeds. Shot after shot flew form her careening form, hit and exploded, taking out every turret she could aim at. Sniper fire came from Aeron's hidden perch as well, picking off turret after turret. But for every turret that was downed, another replaced it. Whoever had designed the place had designed it for such attacks, replacing damaged or destroyed turrets as soon as they were taken off line. Everyone groaned as Lissandra took another hit and went spinning, clearly out of control. She was in trouble and no matter how many of the guns Aeron could take out, there were more coming up from hidden positions all around the perimeter of the facility and energy fire was seeking her. It could only end one way now, but-

"Wait a sec!" Nikis snapped as another K-Drive appeared on the screens. The rider was indistinct but it looked like an Excalibur warframe. "Who is _that?_ "

Everyone stared as the other K-Drive flew into the field of fire and the defenses started shooting at it as well. He didn't try to shoot, instead, he just flew. And his _flying_ … Nothing could _touch_ him! Now there was different music playing over the com bands!

'Well, my temperature is rising, got my feet on the floor  
Crazy people rocking 'cause they want to some more  
Let me in baby, I don't know what you got  
But you better take it easy 'cause this place is hot!

And I'm so glad you made it, so glad you made it  
You got to gimme some lovin', gimme, gimme some lovin'  
Gimme some lovin', gimme, gimme some lovin'  
Gimme some lovin' everyday'

Ali stared at Nikis who stared back.

"You don't _think…_?" They chorused. Both of them turned to Nyx who shrugged.

"No one has seen Hayden, so maybe." She allowed, still trying to comfort Iriana.

"What is going on?" Iriana demanded for everyone. "That music? I don't know it. Tell me someone is recording this! Mishka will demand to hear it." Several people nodded.

"That music is from the same movie as the music Lissandra is playing." Ali said very slowly, Nikis nodded. "There are _very_ few people around now who would remember that." He shook his head. "It wasn't a good movie."

"Not the worst of the time." Nikis allowed and Ali made a small gesture of agreement. "At least it isn't 'Top Gun'."

"No, but still... Blech!" No one needed to see his face to see his disgusted look. It was abundantly clear in his voice now. "Not even _close_ to Academy Award material."

"Escapist trash had its place." Nikis replied as the unknown flew around and around, clearly drawing fire away from Lissandra who had recovered and was darting for the facility. More than one person gasped as the unknown took a hit but whoever was flying the board was no rookie. Whoever it was, they used the impact to alter their trajectory in away that the automated defenses clearly could not follow. They didn't seem hurt. Then again, it was clearly a warframe or something like it.

"Damn." Ali said softly as Lissandra made it into the facility just ahead of at least three pulses of fire that would have torn her right out of the air. "And..."

Everyone stared as the unknown rider darted away from the facility, but he was in trouble now. All of the defenses were focused on him and he was rapidly running out of cover. Then the screen fuzzed and when it cleared, more of the turrets were being destroyed!

"Aeron..." Nikis said softly.

"Multiple long range shooters. At least two snipers." Aeron said with a growl. "No traces."

"There _won't_ be!" _The Reverend Mother_ snapped and the Special Forces all nodded. "Do _not_ try to trace them!" Everyone stared at her and she shook her head. "You won't be able to. I don't know why they are here, but I am glad they are." Rachel nodded.

"Lynn's people! Ah dammit, Rachel!" Nikis groaned. "You _know_ we cannot stand for this."

"They want no conflict with Tenno, Nikis." Rachel said sourly. "You know this. Yes, they have been in touch with us. They are cagey as hell, but they don't want to be working at cross purposes. Nor do they want to fight us. You try to track them, hunt them or whatever and they will vanish. You know how well they hide."

"I do." Nikis sighed and then nodded. "When this is done, I gotta talk to ya." Rachel nodded. "We all need to sit down and talk. As in _talk_ , not throw accusations or silliness about. We gotta figure this out."

"Communication is all instigated from their end, Nikis." Rachel replied. "But I will do what I can. I know this has to be resolved somehow. As to now? Lissandra is in and _he_ , whoever he is, is clear."

No one was actually surprised when the K-Drive and rider simply vanished from sensor.

"So now, we wait?" Nikis said sourly. Everyone nodded. "I hate waiting."

"Never would have guessed." Came from several people.

"Is there anything we can do?" Eudico asked when the energy faded. The automated defenses were still seeking targets, but not finding any so they retracted.

"Pray." The Reverend Mother slowly knelt and both of the Voices did as well. She clasped her hands. "Lissandra is good kid, but she doesn't remember all of what happened to her in there. We worked hard to keep her from remembering what actually happened to her mother." Eudico's posture held horror now and the Reverend Mother nodded. "It is in her hands now and I know she will make the right choice. Not the easy one. She doesn't do easy."

"Nurse Cassandra died." Eudico said slowly. "We found a body."

"You did." The Reverend Mother bowed her head. "You didn't find her _brain_." Eudico hissed, horror now oozing from every pore. "And _yes_. He did."

"He... He did that...? To _her?_ " Eudico gulped. "And no one ever said?"

"Would you have believed any of us?" The Reverend Mother asked and then began her prayers.

"Good point." Eudico slumped a bit. "None of us can help."

"So... What she will face in there..." _Nikis_ actually gulped and it was one of the Special Forces who answered him.

"Yes. If nothing has changed? She will face what is left of her mother. _Again_." The soldier sounded sad and sick. Who could blame him?

"Oh shit."

"Well put."

* * *

 **Songs are Queen ' One Vision' and Spencer Davis Group 'Gimmie Some Loving'.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Family**

Lissandra flew into the entry corridor at full speed and managed to stop before she careened into a wall, but it was hard. Every single muscle hurt. She had lost count of how many hits she had taken after the third. She wasn't sure why she hadn't been hit more, but she was thankful for it. While she would regenerate any conceivable injury, such would take time that she likely did not have. What little she remembered of this place said that the internal defenses had been just as extensive and powerful as the external ones, so she stayed on her K-Drive, easing it into smooth motion, her pistol up and ready. It was odd though. There was no one present. No proxies, no personnel, nothing. If the game program _was_ loose as so many feared, then it was likely that any organic minds had succumbed to it and Lissandra had to be wary-

"That was one heck of an entrance, young lady." A melodious female voice came from nowhere and Lissandra slid her K-Drive from side to side, but nothing happened. It was familiar, that voice. But from where? The strangely familiar being wasn't hostile. If anything? She was amused. Lissandra kept her movements random, evasive and refrained from comment. The other chuckled, but it held little mirth. "There is no need for rudeness. I cannot control the external defenses, but the internal ones are all set for non-lethal and as non-harmful as I can manage." The voice turned wary. "Why are you here? Wait… That board… I _remember_ that board."

Lissandra ignored the voice. She started forward, but stopped short as an armored bulkhead slammed down in front of her. She spun, but another slammed down before she could flee! She was trapped!

"Whoever you are, you are going to talk to me. You will much prefer if we keep this civil." The other sounded resigned now. "I know that board, but I do not know _you_. How did you get that horrible thing?" She demanded. "I… He hurt her and took her! That evil scum took her! _How_ did you get that board? _What_ did you do to Gee?"

Now, she was angry. Lissandra leveled her pistol at the far bulkhead and fired. She was only mildly surprised when the insanely powerful bolt hit a shimmering field of blue and dissipated before hitting the metal. Zuud would not be pleased, but Lissandra had other problems.

"You are going to answer me!" The other snapped. "Stop being stupid and talk to me, girl! You remind me so much of another idiot girl I dealt with, but she is gone." A choked sob came from the hidden speaker. "The enemy hurt and probably killed the one who used that board before. I couldn't help her. Don't make me hurt you! I can. I don't want to."

Lissandra ignored the voice, aiming at potential weak spots in the force field. Every shot hit where she aimed and did nothing at all besides warming her hand as the power cell overloaded and shut down to cool off. She was wary, but memory was coming back, fragmented and disturbing memory. A bolt of energy came from nowhere to slam her right off the board. That was... Was that what had happened last time? Lissandra landed, rolled with pure muscle memory and slid to her feet, aiming here and there, but nothing shone. The other gasped and when she spoke again, it was hesitant.

"Wait..." The unknown said very carefully. "You move like her. You fly like her. You shoot like her. But the scans… You are _not_ her. You are not Gee." The other sighed deeply and when she spoke again, it was slow and careful. "Um… We got off on the wrong foot here, I think. My name is Cassandra. What is yours?"

Lissandra went totally still at that. Yes, it _did_ sound like her mother. But that was utterly impossible! She had found her mother's _body!_ She had come here and obliterated the scum responsible for killing her mother. Cassandra was dead. So… What was going on?

"My name is Lissandra." The human said slowly, not relaxing or lowering her weapon. "I am a medic working with the Clergy." She said slowly. "The Clergy received a report of an outbreak of a very bad technological disease here. I was sent to investigate."

"That is… More than a bit implausible." The other said slowly.

"What is implausible is that you sound very much like someone who I know is dead." Lissandra did not move at all. "Gee is no more, but I did know her. The one who took her broken body from here did things to her, made her a monster. She perished." Sort of true. Gee _had_ died and Lissandra had taken her place. A sob came from the other.

"You are a medic? You tended her?" The other was all but begging. "Did she suffer? Please tell me she didn't suffer!"

"I wish I could." Lissandra slumped a bit. "She was in a great deal of pain most of the time I knew her. She was not very lucid at times, but she was a good friend for almost as long as I knew her. Not that I liked her all the time." Not entirely untrue. She did not like herself sometimes. "She was hard, tough, capable. All of that."

"Gee was utterly _insane!_ Anyone who liked her was just as insane. I loved her, but I didn't like her all the time." The other replied with a snort that was barely humorous at all. "But I always knew it wasn't her fault. _None_ of what happened to her was her fault."

"She disagreed." Lissandra said quietly, still sweeping for targets. "I know what she did and I know why."

"That lying sack of crap, Business!" Impossible or no, that _had_ to be Cassandra, no matter how insane it was that the girl was talking to her mother who had been dead ten years! "He had no _right_ to use her like that! As an assassin! She was trying not to be that way! She was trying to get better. For me." She gave a small sob.

"Yeah, she was." Lissandra agreed. "I um… I apologize. I am sorry for being rude." She said softly and holstered her pistol. It was abundantly clear that firepower would not work here. Maybe persuasion would? "I know that resistance is useless, but it is training and I was shot at on the way in."

"I apologize as well." Cassandra said with a sigh. "I am not in full control of the facility. The external defenses are on a separate network and I cannot access them. The only one who can is Nef Anyo and he refuses to. He says 'She will come'. I _doubt_ he was talking about you." She said dryly.

"He might have been." Lissandra fought hard not to quail at that. "He is not sane..." She paused and then grimaced under her helmet. "...Or, he _acts_ insane."

"Could be either." Cassandra replied. "There _is_ a technological plague loose in this facility, Clergywoman. You are not safe here." She warned.

"'Safe' has never been part of my job description." Lissandra replied. "I do what is needed. Are _you_ in danger?"

"I am not alive." Cassandra replied and Lissandra felt her guts tun to ice. "I died a long time ago and the scum who did it was told to use my remnants." She made a soft, sad noise. "He did."

"Well, I cannot very well leave now, can I?" Lissandra asked. Not that she _would_ leave her mother in such straits! "If you do not control the defenses, then as soon as I pop back out, the guns go live again. Getting in, I had the element of surprise. Out?" She shook her head as Cassandra made a noise of consternation. "Besides, I heard there were kids here."

"There are." Cassandra sounded both sickened and sad now. "Anyo had them made, skirting so very close to violating the Company Procreation guidelines. He had me rebuilt to serve as a caregiver while he 'educated' them." She snorted. "Then Gee made a hell of a mess here. That girl made messes like no one else I have ever met." She sounded both amused and wary.

"Yes, she _did_." Lissandra agreed fervently and Cassandra laughed a little. "She told me how to find the board and use it. I am not anywhere close to her skill on it though." She admitted.

"You did well." The other complimented. "The one time I got on a K-Drive did not end well."

"Gee said something about that." Lissandra said slowly and Cassandra made a disgusted noise. "Something about 'a K-Drive stuck in a chimney'?"

It had taken Gee two years to get Cassandra to try one and after that spectacular wipe-out the woman had flatly refused to ever ride one again.

"They are not as easy to operate as she made it look." Cassandra replied primly.

"I fell off on the way here a few times." Lissandra agreed. "So… I want to help. I was sent to help."

"I have some leeway in how to interpret orders." Cassandra replied, a bit uneasy. "But my primary function is to protect the facility and my charges here. Intruders must be contained."

"I think I am." Lissandra chuckled at the startled noise that came from the other. "I can't leave, now, can I? So, I am contained."

"Drop your weapon." Cassandra commanded and Lissandra paused before slowly bending down to place it on the floor. "Um… what?"

"I do not know how stable the energy core of the pistol is." Lissandra said as she deactivated it and stepped away from it. "I bet it would be a fairly substantial blast if it went boom and the room is not that big."

"I bet I know who made that." Lissandra stilled as one of the armored doors slid up and a large eight legged form stepped in. Her mother's voice came from the spider! "Zuud always did like things that went 'Bang' a bit too much."

"No argument." Lissandra did not move as the spider stepped up, but to her surprise, it did not pick up the weapon. Instead, a spray of something shot out form its head and a white mesh like thing covered the pistol. Lissandra shook her head. "I didn't trap it." She tried to keep the hurt out of her voice, but she knew she did not succeed.

"Not on purpose, probably." The spider turned to scrutinize her. "But you clearly know how dangerous those scavenged junk turned into guns can be."

"I do." Lissandra replied, not moving as scan beams swept her. "That was my only weapon."

"I highly doubt that." The spider replied dryly. "You seem the type to consider firearms to be tools, not weapons."

"Okay." Lissandra raised her arms until they were standing out form her sides at shoulder height. "I have no explosives, no projectile or energy projection systems on my person." She stilled as the beams that were scanning her changed color from blue to gold!

"You… You are who I have been waiting for," Cassandra's voice held fear now. "The one he said would come."

"What do you mean?" Lissandra backed up a step as the spider took one closer to her. "No! Don't!"

"I… I won't hurt you. You are human in every way." Cassandra said weakly. "But the scans… Oh my god, girl! What did they _do_ to you?"

"I don't remember." Lissandra backed up another step and hit the wall. She sidled along it away from the spider that was following her slowly. "I am just a medic!"

"You are very good at not telling the truth." Cassandra said softly. "If I wasn't scanning your bio-metrics so thoroughly, I wouldn't realize that was not true." Lissandra stilled and the spider took another slow step forward. "I don't know what all this odd augmentation is, but it is clearly the same basic design as what was done to me, if far more extensive. Oh my god, girl!" She was crying as Lissandra backed away again, only to find herself in a corner. "My protocols are activating!" Her voice turned more robotic. "I… You will be… his daughter again."

"What do you mean 'again'?" Lissandra set herself to run, but the same white spray that had covered the pistol flashed out from the spider. She dodged, but a bit of it caught her arm and held it tight. She screamed and wretched her arm but a jerk pulled her off balance. The spray came again and covered her entirely.

"I am sorry." Cassandra was crying as Lissandra's helmet gave a groan and then was broken right off by inhuman strength. Lissandra had a moment to stare up at the robotic face of the spider before a green mist flashed into her face and she was falling.

So slowly.

* * *

Later

Lissandra woke to find herself in hell.

She lay on a couch, surrounded by similar couches. Each one held an immobile form. All of the forms were wrapped in white material. All had tubes going into what had to be some kind of high tech cocoons. When Lissandra stared down at herself she too was covered in white. She felt things attached to her, some she had words for, others, she did not.

"You are awake." Cassandra's voice was subdued as the spider came into Lissandra's view. "I am sorry, but I cannot fight my programming. You are here now and you will take your place again. I prayed you would never come back here, Gee!"

"I am not his daughter." Lissandra said as firmly as she could. "Or yours."

"Not now, no." Cassandra's voice held old shame now. "Gee was a handful and no mistake, but she was not a bad sort unless pushed. I didn't understand until after she came here. I spent time after I woke up here trying to fix what I could. I can't. All I can do is try to make it a bit less horrible. What do you want me to call you?" She all but begged.

"My name is Lissandra." The medic didn't bother fighting the restraints as glowing metal settled down around her head.

"For the moment, yes." Cassandra said sadly. "In a few minutes, you will remember it all. When you are connected to the system again, you will be force fed it all. Again." She made a gagging noise. "I want to help and I can't!"

"What do you mean 'Again'?" Lissandra demanded. "I do not know this place!"

"No." Cassandra said sadly. "You do not remember it because you were stolen from it when you were hours old and you blew the hell out of it after I perished." Lissandra bit back whatever she was going to say and the spider stepped close again. "I didn't know. Galens didn't know. We saw a hurting little girl. Nothing more." Heartbreak sang in her tone. "We didn't _know!_ "

"What do you mean?" Lissandra snapped as the metal closed around her head. Nothing hurt. Indeed, it felt warm and comfortable. She was warm now, soothed despite her bone deep fear. She felt odd pinches in places, likely tubes going in as the others had.

"Your identity was changed, your DNA altered, and _that_ had to _hurt!_ " Cassandra sounded sick now. "But the basic biological framework is still there. I know it, Gee!" She said sternly. "I did so many repairs on you that I know your body as well as I knew my own! You cannot hide such from a medic."

That was true. Cassandra had gotten tired of patching Gee up on so many occasions, since the girl had no fear whatsoever. Not of bullies. Not gangs. Not of wild animals and certainly not of riding her K-Drive in places that she really shouldn't have even before the Business had recruited her to 'remove' certain people who needed to be.

"What are you doing?" Lissandra demanded as a dark mass appeared over her head. It slowly settled down to cover her face despite her struggles. In moments, she couldn't move at all but her mother's soothing voice came from the darkness.

"Waking you from your Dream."

That was the only warning Lissandra had before she was falling. She landed on her feet.

No.

She wasn't on _her_ feet.

Lissandra stared down at herself. At the bio-armor covered arms that hung out form her torso. At the bio-tech armored legs that she stood on. At the metal clawed fingers that curled when she clenched her fists.

"Hello, Jermaine." An unfamiliar voice sounded and Lissandra quailed as a Tenno approached. No. That wasn't a Tenno! It was a warframe, but it was in Corpus colors! The mostly decorative armor that hung on its shoulders, chest and ankles was all blocky, square. "We were not sure if you were ever going to wake up."

Lissandra did not move, she did not speak. She stared around slowly and the room had ten warframes in it. Most were kneeling in place, with energy playing around them. All to them were in Corpus colors with the same armor. She didn't need to look closely at herself to know she wore the same.

"Transference." Lissandra said very softly and the Excalibur warframe nodded to her. "I am in a warframe."

"Yes." The other had a smile in his voice. "You will be our healer and we will lead the Company to greater Profits in the name of the Void."

"By force." Lissandra said very slowly.

"Only if needed." The other shrugged. "The Company is many things, they are not stupid. They will realize they are over-matched. They will make deals and we will lead them."

"Will we?" Lissandra asked. "And the game?"

"You will take your turns in the simulation." The Excalibur waved at her and she felt her body kneel without her commands. "You will need training, but you will do well."

"This is not possible!" Lissandra snapped. "I am not a Tenno!"

"No." The other said grimly as he knelt in front of her. "You are not a Betrayer. You _were_ betrayed and stolen from us, but now you are back. Welcome home, sister."

Energy started playing around Lissandra. Familiar and horrible energy that seeped deep into her mind, prying into every cranny. Scouring every facet of her being out and scrutinizing it. Information was pouring into her mind. Plans, strategies, designs, histories. So much and so horrible! She was losing herself as the energy-

 _Mistress! No! Leave her **alone!**_

Lissandra screamed as something furry slammed into her, pushing her out of the beam of energy that she hadn't realized was coming down from the ceiling. Somehow, _Lilly_ stood in between the stunned Lissandra and the now rising Excalibur. She was still a puppy, but she was furious.

"Stupid _dog!_ " The Excalibur warframe snapped as a Braton rifle appeared in his hands. Before Lissandra could speak, he fired.

Lilly's scream of agony cut off when he fired again and then _everything_ stopped as Lissandra's world went _white_.


	18. Chapter 18

**Mind games**

The Excalibur started to say something, but whatever he was going to say was cut off, literally, as Lissandra slashed out with both hands and odd elongated rectangles that sat on the backs of her arms slid into her hands to become pistols. Odd pistols, but from how they hummed? Powerful ones. It felt right to take aim with them.

"Jermaine! NO! STOP!" An unexpected voice shouted as Lissandra took aim. Hayden Tenno stepped into view, his empty hands upraised as Lissandra growled, her aim point the Excalibur who had frozen in place. "Mikhail! Drop it!"

That was a command and the Excalibur did as instructed. His Braton clattered to the floor even as Lissandra spun in place, seeking targets. Every single warframe had frozen in place as she had drawn her odd weapons. All of then had weapons, but none seemed to dare draw them. Wise as keyed up as Lissandra was. She felt nothing but readiness that sang in every cell of her being.

"Jermaine..." Hayden took a slow step forward only to freeze as Lissandra's aim centered on him. "I know you are confused. I know you are angry. You have cause. Lilly is alive. She won't be for long, but we can save her, Jermaine."

"That is not my name." Lissandra felt nothing. Nothing at all made it through the white in her mind.

"It was." Hayden said very softly. "Once, long ago. Before you were taken from here, that was your name. Jermaine Anyo."

"That is not my name." Lissandra said flatly. She took a slow, careful step and stood over Lilly who moaned in pain. "Whatever Nef Anyo is paying you is not enough." She broke off as Lilly tried to move and could not. The Kubrow whined in pain and fear. "He shot my companion."

"He did." Hayden slumped. "This isn't what you think. This is virtual, not physical! I can help her!" He pleaded.

"And I should trust you." Lissandra wanted to snap that, but it came out dead calm.

"You won't after everything." Hayden said very slowly. "I don't blame you. Mikhail, seiza. Now." That was a command and the Excalibur nodded before kneeling in place. "I can help Lilly!" He pleaded. "I have already made Liriel and Lynn mad enough as it is, let me help her!"

"You move? You die." Lissandra replied.

"I am already dead. If I don't help her? Lilly dies." Hayden sighed deeply. "And if that happens? You probably go nuts and have to be put down. Liriel is far smarter than anyone gives her credit for and everyone gives her a _lot_ of credit for brains." He shook his head. "Anyo messed up and he _knows_ it."

"Do I care?" Lissandra asked.

"No. But there are those who care about you, Lissandra." Cass' voice preceded the soldier into view. He was glowing blue, but that paled beside the transparent golden form who stood beside him who was glowing _gold!_ The female Tenno was furious!

"I thought I knew how many ways you could be stupid, Hayden." The female Tenno ignored Lissandra to kneel beside Lilly, her hands gentle as she checked the Kubrow. "I didn't have a clue, did I?"

"I didn't do this, Lynn!" Hayden retorted.

"Oh?" Lissandra could still feel nothing as Cass moved to stand beside her. He was unarmed, but his hands glowed with blue code. "Then who did?"

"All the records of Cell Free were gone, destroyed. Anyo thought to spread his faith by a mental virus spread by a video game." Hayden said very softly. "He didn't know what would happen. How it would evolve once it was out of the incubator." Lynn scoffed, but he wasn't done. "I didn't do this! Alicia and I didn't have a clue about _this_ until we brought the two of them to him. I know why you feel the way you do about me and frankly? I agree. What I did was wrong. I wanted to try and make it right but I can't."

"Got that right." Lynn snapped as she did something and Lilly relaxed. "Easy there, little puppy. You are going to be okay." She reassured the distraught Kubrow.

 _Something is wrong with Mistress!_ Lilly begged. _Help Mistress!_

"If I can, I will." Lynn promised and Lilly relaxed. She finished what she was doing and rose slowly to scrutinize Lissandra who hadn't moved, hadn't relaxed her aim. "You think _she_ can fix this?" Lynn demanded of Hayden.

"I know she can." Hayden replied a bit uneasily. "She was intended to be the Healer for this group. The nurturer. But she was taken by a traitor when she was less than a day old. He was killed by the security systems while trying to escape and she was thought lost when his ship crashed outside the facility. Instead? She found her way to Fortuna."

"Because she is immortal." Lynn sighed deeply. "Moronic little twits always trying to make humans immortal! It _never_ ends well!"

"No." Hayden agreed. "It doesn't. Lynn, we have our differences. God knows, I earned your wrath, but _she_ doesn't deserve this hell!"

"Who did _this?_ " Lynn demanded as she eyed the kneeling warframes.

"Anyo." Hayden sighed deeply and slowly knelt as well. "What better guardians for his faith than undying bio-metal? He managed to get a set of Transference controls working. Then he found several half built warframes and had a brainstorm. He set out to make his own users, his own debased copies of Tenno." Lynn hissed and Hayden nodded. "Yeah."

"That is insane!" Lynn snapped as Lilly sat up and tried to move to Lissandra, but she couldn't. Lynn sighed and picked up the Kubrow, cradling her gently.

"He thinks he is better than the Orokin, Lynn." Hayden replied. "That he can do better than they did at their height because his faith says he can." He sighed. "I agree it is insane. I have been talking to these since I discovered them here. They do not and will not trust me, but I am trying to help them."

"'Help', sure. Of course, you didn't tell anyone." Lynn said savagely as she soothed the distraught Kubrow. "Because why try to _help_ them when you can _use_ them."

"The game won't let them go, Lynn." Hayden snapped right back. "The only one who can free them is Jermaine here." He nodded to Lissandra who did not react.

"That is not her name." Cass moved to flank Lissandra.

"It _was!_ " Hayden retorted. "She was intended to be their leader. Their healer. Their nurturer. Their Game Mistress."

"Hayden..." Lynn slowly shook her head and then sighed. "You know I cannot trust a word you say."

"I know." Hayden Tenno slumped and then nodded. "I hope you can help her. She doesn't deserve this. None of them did." With that, he vanished.

Cass jerked, but no one else moved. Lynn stood there, Lilly in her arms for a long moment before turning to Lissandra. When the shade spoke again, it was slow and careful.

"This is virtual, young lady." The ancient Tenno kept her voice calm and quiet. "None of this is real. You can hurt us here, but you cannot kill us. Do you wish to hurt us?"

"He hurt Lilly." Lissandra managed through her mental fog.

"Yes, he did and she could have died." Lynn's glare should have rendered the Excalibur down to ash. "I am glad I was here. These days are filled with horror, fear and pain. It is all too rare that I can heal as I so wish to."

"Yes. I… I feel that too." Lissandra took a deep, shuddering breath and then she fell to her knees, crying. Cass took hold of her carefully as the pistols on her arms retracted back to their resting places. "What am I?" Lissandra begged.

"I do not know." Lynn was sad now. "From what I have seen, you are not evil. People keep pushing you which seems somewhat unwise." Lilly made a noise and Lynn set the puppy down on unsteady feet. "Easy there, little one. You are going to be weak for a bit. This is all in the mind, but the mind and body are one. You nearly perished. I am glad I was here."

 _Me too._ Lilly sounded abject as she staggered to where Lissandra was crying. _Don't cry, Mistress! I am here._

"I nearly got you killed!" Lissandra opened her arms and Lilly swarmed into them.

 _You needed help._ _I gave it._ Lilly replied. _We are together._

"I… Yes." Lissandra relaxed fully and nodded to her companion. "Yes, we are." She bowed her head to Lynn. "I apologize for being rude."

"Don't _start!_ " Lynn said in such along suffering tone that both Cass and Lissandra had to chuckle. "This is not a good thing. You are trapped with them in a virtual world." She looked at the Excalibur who was eyeing her. "How long have you been here?"

"I do not know." The Excalibur replied. "Time has little meaning here. We have been waiting for Jermaine to lead us out of the game." He sounded unsure now. "But the other? Hayden?" He inquired and Lynn nodded, face severe. "He called us Tenno, but we are not."

"No." Lynn agreed. "You are not. To be Tenno, you would have to follow their Code and you do not, do you?"

"I don't know." The other replied, clearly upset. "I… I am Mikhail. Named for a warrior of antiquity."

"I am Lynn." The golden shade replied. "I do not believe that we are enemies, but that does not make us friends. You may or may not have known what you were doing, but if you had slain this girl's companion, everyone here would have likely been hurt by her wrath." She made a face.. "Add to that? You do _not_ want to _know_ what the Queen of Cats would have done. She likes Lissandra."

"Her name is Jermaine!" Mikhail protested.

"No, it is not!" Cass, Lynn, Lilly and Lissandra chorused that.

"She is who we have been waiting for." The voice from the Excalibur was young sounding now. Young, scared and confused. "Every scan says she is who we have been praying for! Our Guide!"

"Boy, Mikhail..." Lynn groaned a little. "Whatever madness Nef Anyo plans, this girl is not the key to it. She has been hurt _enough!_ " The last was fierce as Lynn move to flank Lissandra, her posture firm.

"We do not want to hurt her." Mikhail pleaded. "We want to follow her!"

"I am no leader." Lissandra said into the silence that fell. "I have never been a leader. All I have been is broken. Less than sane."

"From what little Cass has told me, you have gone through several versions of hell." Lynn laid her hand on Lissandra's arm. The touch didn't do anything, but comfort the distraught girl. "And now? More that you don't remember. What do you remember first?" She asked.

"First?" Lissandra asked. "I..." She paused and then she made a face. "I woke up in Vent Kid hideout. One of them had found me and taken me there. When I healed, I joined them. I was five? Six?" She shook her head. "I don't know."

"You were three days old when you were stolen from us." Mikhail said very quietly and Lissandra stilled. "From your family."

"You are _not_ my family!" Lissandra snarled. "You… My family is dead! My father and then my mother! Both dead!" She shook her head as Cass laid his hand on her other arm. "My father died trying to keep me from being corrupted and my mother?" She shook her head savagely. "What you Corpus did to her… You had no _RIGHT!_ " She screamed that.

"What did they do?" Cass asked softly as he laid his arms around the furious girl.

"They put bits of her into some kind of guardian proxy!" Lissandra snapped, still fighting for control. "Killing her wasn't enough? She was a nurse for god's sake! She _healed_ people!" She shook her head. "And now? She is a huge spider. They made _her_ a monster just like they did _me!_ "

"Oh dear." Lynn sighed as Mikhail recoiled. "You know what she is talking about, don't you?"

"The Guardian is our protection." Mikhail said weakly. "She is kind to us. She protects us, keeps our physical forms from harm." He shook his head. "She… She sings to us when we are distressed. Our Father said he saved her."

"Saved her from life, no doubt!" Lissandra snapped. "From free will! From having a chance at a real life or love!"

"We love her." Mikhail replied and Lissandra cut off whatever else she was going to say to stare at him. "She has been very kind to us. She doesn't need to be but she is. What happened to her?" He asked.

"She..." Lissandra's rage fled as quickly as it has come. "There was a battle. The last pitched battle between Anyo's forces and insurgents. I was far away, doing a nasty job when I heard about it. I came as quickly as I could. I was too late. The insurgents were slaughtered but they did not die easily or quickly. It was a horrible fight. She wasn't an insurgent. She was paying off her debt and her husband's. She wasn't happy with all of what had happened, but she had never been violent. Ever." Lissandra slumped. "I was."

"But if she wasn't an insurgent..." Mikhail sounded even more confused now. "Why hurt her?"

"She wasn't one of Anyo's goons and she was on the battlefield, so she _had_ to be an insurgent." Lissandra snarled. "It didn't _matter_ that she was treating _both_ sides' wounded as she found them. I tracked her." She bowed her head. "It was the debt, you see. The more she healed, the more money she made. She was trying to support me as a single mother. Not easy at the best of times and I did not help."

"It was not your fault, girl." No one was surprised when a huge spider form appeared behind the warframes. "None of it was."

"Let them go!" Lissandra said sternly.

"I can't." The spider replied. "My programming holds me just as the game program is holding you right now. I remember. I regret. I rage in my bonds but I cannot break them. Maybe you can." The spider turned to scrutinize the golden form and the blue one. "You are not supposed to be here." She said slowly.

"Nor is she." Lynn nodded to Lissandra. "She is not who you think she is. She has not been for a long time. If you push this, bad things will happen." She warned.

"I am not surprised." The spider actually chuckled! "Bad things happened a lot around her." She heaved an all too human sigh. "I cannot stop this. Can you?"

"Not without causing irreparable harm to her mind." Lynn replied. Lissandra stared at the golden form and Lynn sighed as well. "It likely wouldn't kill you. It would in all likelihood drive you mad."

"Part of me would welcome that." Lissandra said softly as Lilly whined in distress. "So I am supposed to be some kind of half Tenno thing?"

"I do not know exactly what the Master intended." The spider replied. "What records were here were damaged fairly thoroughly when you blew the place to hell along with the garrison." Everyone stared at Lissandra as she shrugged. The spider's tone turned sly. "Making her mad is a bad idea." More than one person chuckled as Lissandra choked. Then the other turned serious. "And then you vanished out of here before anyone could try to explain. To help you."

"I was taken." Lissandra replied coldly. The spider and all of the warframes stiffened at that. "Turned into what I am now against my will because I healed fast. I could survive the implantation. He wanted a fairly specialized slave healer."

"That..." The spider made a noise that half rage, half despair. "And then? You are clearly not a slave now." Lissandra just looked at the spider and it made a noise of pure despair. "We need to end the program! If it breaks containment..."

"If it breaks containment, the area gets nuked." Lynn interjected and everyone stiffened. "EMPs, regular nukes, conventional artillery, anything and _everything_ else that people can throw at it. For some things, there is no overkill."

"No." The spider said slowly. "For some things, there is not. Mikhail, stand down. Without her? We are doomed. We have to persuade her with words. Nothing else will work."

"You cannot persuade me!" Lissandra said with a growl that Lilly matched. "Not after what Anyo did to you! What his one time subordinate did to _me!_ "

"Nef Anyo was trying to make immortal, incorruptible guardians for his faithful." The spider was still quiet. "What he did and how is all wrong, but _why?_ Standing between those who cannot fight and those who wish them ill is not a bad thing, is it?"

"If it was by choice, no!" Cass snapped. " _I_ chose that role, _she_ did _not!_ " He hugged Lissandra. "And anyone else who tries to subvert her to _any_ role she does not choose for herself will face my wrath."

" _Our_ wrath." Lynn agreed as golden power flared around her.

"Human? You care for her." The spider said weakly. "Does he make you happy?" She all but begged Lissandra who stared at the huge form in shock. "I… I am happy you found someone. I hope he makes you happy."

"Why?" Lissandra demanded.

"Because no matter what else happens, life goes on." The spider replied. "Whether we stand here or fall, life will go on. From what I saw my daughter endure and what I have seen in your scans, you will likely survive whatever happens even if the rest of us fall. I hope and pray you do not do so alone."

Whatever Lissandra might have said in response was cut off as energy flared all around them.

" _No!_ " The spider screamed. "The game is reacting! It is pulling us in!"

"Not all of you." That was _Ali!_

Lissandra had a bare moment to scream herself as she was pulled into a tiny ball of energy. She landed on her feet, still in her warframe. A dozen other warframes appeared beside her, all seeming to be as shocked as she was. Ali appeared beside her and he dropped his cloak before pulling off his green mask. The warframe that stood revealed as not a design she knew. He didn't seem to be armed.

"The only way out of the program is forward." Ali said with a shrug as everyone took aim at him. "Will you stand here or try to escape?"

"And you are here… how?" Lissandra did not move or lower the pistols that had slid into her hands.

"With some very odd help." Ali replied, unperturbed by the hostility of the others. "I expect neither trust nor forgiveness for what I have done and what I may do, but I can assist in this and I will. I like you, girl."

"How did you get here?" Lissandra demanded. "How did you alter the game?"

"The answer to both of your questions is the same thing." Ali replied.

"I did not."


	19. Chapter 19

**Fact and truth**

"You… did not?"

Lissandra didn't even bother to hide the disbelief in her voice. She was hyper-aware that the other warframes had moved to flank her and all were aiming at Ali. The Excalibur who called himself Mikhail moved to shield her from the unknown warframe and she hissed at him.

"Get in front of me and I will likely shoot you." Lissandra warned. "Whatever the hell is going on, I am not who you want me to be and I will not be."

"You think that now." Mikhail said quietly. "You will change your mind. Until then? We will ward you."

"I cannot trust you!" Lissandra snarled. "Anyo has hurt so many, killed so many. All in the name of his faith! His madness."

"Your world view is different from ours." Mikhail said slowly. "I was born to this role. I was given a chance to make things better for others. I chose to try." Ali inclined his head to the other who eyed him. "And you. Who are you?" The Excalibur clad being demanded.

"She knows me as 'Ali'." The strange warframe replied, not moving. "My true name was Albrecht Ling Ingram and I was born just after Orokin was founded." Everyone stiffened as Lissandra snarled at him. "I have never lied to you, girl." Ali tried to soothe her.

"Maybe not, but you never tell the whole truth, either!" Lissandra snarled. "How did you get here?"

"Nikis, Nyx and Janet worked to level up my character. I am the only person still alive who has faced this kind of horror, girl." Ali replied. "No matter my crimes, and yes, they are legion,..." He shrugged as everyone stared at him. "...this horror must not go any further. Nyx is not happy with my leaving my prison, but she understands. Add to that? She likes you too." He shook his head. "That is not necessarily a good thing. When people like us feel for others, that makes them targets." Then he snorted in dry humor. "Then again, we do often have the means of defending those we call 'friend'."

"Nyx is a friend!" Lissandra snapped. "You are not!"

"Nyx sent me because if she came in here, she would not be able to leave." Ali replied evenly and Lissandra stilled. "The game is not quite the same." He allowed as he looked around. "But it is far too close. If it breaks containment,..." He sighed.

"Lynn said they would nuke the site." Lissandra said savagely and Ali nodded.

"They will if needed." Ali sounded odd. Sad, sick, worried, all of that. But also anticipatory?

"What do _you_ want here?" Lissandra demanded.

"The same thing you do." Ali replied. "An _end._ " Lissandra stiffened and he nodded. "Nyx wasn't kind when she imprisoned me. She tried to make me something more than I am, but she could not. I am not Tenno and I never will be. I am too broken, too shattered by both what I did and what I endured in the grip of Cell Free." He looked away from the group. "I am too useful to the Tenno to allow me an end though. Part of me is seriously hoping I do not survive this."

"How many people are trapped in this game?" Lissandra asked after a moment's thought.

"Two hundred and seven." Mikhail replied instantly. "It was intended as a training simulation for us, but it grew and expanded out of control. The staff tried to stop it, but all they could do was quarantine it."

"Yeah, that sounds familiar." Ali shook his head. "From what I was told, this game will hold us and all the others until someone wins it. Cell Free was infinite. I sincerely hope this one has a limits." He shuddered in memory.

"They brought in counselors." Mikhail said quietly. "They brought in so many specialists. Some they hired. Others they acquired through means both fair and foul." Lissandra growled at that. Ali did not react. "None of it helped."

"Is Shepherd here?" Ali asked and Mikhail stared at him. "She may be our only chance to end this."

"Shepherd?" Lissandra paused. "The spiritual guide that Janet talked to on Mercury?"

"Yes." Ali sighed deeply. "Religion was one of the counters to Cell Free, so long ago. I thought my own faith was strong enough to protect me from the lure. I was wrong. Shepherd didn't succumb, did she?" He asked Mikhail who looked at Lissandra.

"Don't look at me." Lissandra snapped. "I do not lead you."

"I am bound to you." Mikhail said softly as he bowed to her. "We all are." Lissandra stared at him in horror as all of the other warframes bowed to her.

"I am no leader!" Lissandra said weakly. "I can barely lead _myself!_ I know my limits."

"That makes you far wiser than most who have tried to lead others throughout recorded history." Ali was still quiet and calm. "The others will do what they can, but Lynn and your paramour are limited in how they can act without causing great harm to everyone connected to the game. Shutting it down would be very hard even if they were willing simply to kill everyone connected to it." He shook his head. "Lynn did that before, but she had help and even then, the cost was dear. She will not do so again unless there are no other options."

"And _you_ are going to do…what?" Lissandra demanded.

"Advise you. Defend you. Try to get us through this." Ali shrugged. "I am not looking forward to it, but I am looking forward to going back into my prison less."

"This is all wrong." Lissandra said slowly, staring down at her hands as the pistols in them retracted. "How could Anyo have made warframes?"

"Do you really want to know?" Ali asked softly. Lissandra stared at him and his posture was pensive, resigned almost.

"Is this real?" Lissandra demanded. Ali chuckled and she snapped at him. "I am not talking philosophically! I am talking verifiable fact. Am I in a virtual simulation?"

"Yes. We all are." Ali replied evenly even as the other other stared from one to the other.

"So..." Lissandra smiled and drew the pistol at her hip. Before anyone could move, she had it to her head and squeezed the trigger. Everyone jumped as the weapon barked, but did nothing beyond making noise. Far from cowed, Lissandra sighed. "I should have figured. This is all focused on making me do what is wished and my death is not part of the plan." Ali shook his head. "How long have I been in the simulation?"

"Jermaine..." Mikhail begged but when he reached for her, she batted his hand way.

"That is _not_ my name." Lissandra focused herself past her anger. It would not help and going white where was a bad idea. "My name is Lissandra. Take me to Shepherd. Now." Ali stared at her and she shook her head. "Say nothing."

"All I will say is 'Good luck'." Ali said softly. "When I tried that, I failed miserably." Lissandra looked at him and he bowed to her.

"Shepherd. Now." Lissandra started off and Mikhail shook his head, but moved to walk in front of her. Ali took up station beside her as the others formed ranks behind the trio.

The world shifted. One moment, they were walking through a field of green grass, surrounded by frolicking animals. The next moment? They were crossing a huge battlefield sprawled all around them, horrors of many kinds clashing. Humans, aliens, robots, all kinds of things were fighting that Lissandra ignored. None of them could touch her. The next moment? They were jumping from oddly shaped platform to oddly shaped platform high up in the air as a human male in a red jumpsuit and a similar looking human in green paced them. Lissandra ignored them all. A mushroom sprouted huge teeth and ran at Lissandra, but she ignored that too. Mikhail raised his rifle, but Ali lashed out with a leg and tripped the odd creature right off the platform. Were those _coins_ that flew and were collected by the two odd leaping humans? Lissandra did not look.

Then they were in a large room filled with half clothed humans who were gyrating around a chair in which a human female sat. They were clearly doing something erotic, but again, Lissandra ignored them. The woman in the chair was shaking her head as Lissandra stepped forward, ignoring the leers and motions that the humans were making.

"Games are supposed to entertain, not cause harm." Lissandra said softly as she knelt beside the chair. The woman in it nodded to her. She looked tired and weak. "Are you hurt, Shepherd?"

"Not physically. I am weak." Shepherd replied. "They are trying to get into my head. You too?"

"Yes, they have been. Not that they have _any_ idea what is about to happen." Lissandra replied and pulled the human out of the chair. She handed the human to Ali who took Shepherd gingerly. Everything stopped as _Lissandra_ sat in the chair.

"Lissandra!" Ali cried out as energy flared around her, but the tubes that were her curse flashed out and connected to the chair. _S_ _omething_ screamed as everything around the mismatched group faded into a gray-blue empty room.

"You are hurting people." Lissandra was not speaking to anyone visible. "I cannot allow this." What happened next was hard to define. Energy flared around Lissandra brighter and brighter. She did not move, did not flinch as the power escalated. When she spoke, it was in a voice was quiet, but thundered at the same time. "My name is Lissandra." The seated girl said calmly as power flashed brighter. "I am not your slave. I am not Nef Anyo's slave. I am not his daughter. He may have created me, but I am more than my creation." Her smile was cold and hard now. "Shall we play a game?"

 _You hurt._ An inhuman voice came from nowhere and everywhere. _You should not hurt. You will rest. You will heal. You_ _can_ _play when you have healed._

"No." Lissandra replied, still calm. "We will play now."

 _That is not as it should be._ The other sounded upset now.

" _None_ of this is as it should be." Lissandra replied. "We will play. Now." She focused her mind and a square thing appeared in midair. It was crosshatched by four lines and an 'X' appeared in the middle square.

"What are you doing?" Mikhail demanded as an 'O' appeared in one corner.

"Playing." Lissandra replied as the board quickly filled with X's and O's. In moments it was a stalemate. "Again!" The board cleared and then it filled again, even quicker. The board cleared again and then it was filling again.

 _There is no point in that game._ The inhuman voice said slowly. _You do not enjoy it._

"There is no point in _any_ game that does not entertain." Lissandra countered. "The whole point of games _is_ to entertain. Sometimes they can educate but they are never supposed to deny a person free will. To imprison. What is happening here is wrong and I refuse to help you do it to anyone else." The board was filled and she nodded. "Again."

 _You will harm yourself._ The other sounded very upset now.

"So?" Lissandra snapped. "What you are doing to all of the ones you have imprisoned is harm. Maybe you have them distracted from the fact that you are killing them, but that is what you are doing!"

 _That is not this program's function._ The other replied.

"Function or no, that is what you are doing." Lissandra replied as the energy built to a fever pitch around her. She grunted in pain as light flared. "I. Am. Not. Your. Slave!"

 _You are harming yourself!_ The other sounded scared now. The board vanished, but then it reappeared! Was it glowing blue and gold? It was!

" _So what?_ _ **Again!**_ " Lissandra screamed in agony as power flowed through the tubes into her.

 _No._ The power faded and Lissandra fell from the chair to lie still. The tubes did not retract. _You must not!_ The board hazed but then it came back!

"Again!" Lissandra moaned as the board filled in bare moments.

 _You will kill yourself!_ The program all but shouted that.

"So what?" Lissandra repeated. "I am doing what you want! That is your function! Making people run your program! Who cares if it kills them? This is work, not play!"

 _This is wrong._ The program sounded scared now.

"So?" Lissandra snapped as power flared anew around her, searing the tubes that connected her to the chair. She screamed in agony. Mikhail grabbed for her, but was thrown back by the energy discharges. Ali stepped forward, but he too could not touch her.

"Lissandra! No!" Ali begged. "There has to be another way!"

"There isn't!" Lissandra screamed the words out as the power ripped into her. "I think I can stop it, but-" Her words broke off as she convulsed, her screams pouring out in unending waves. "I… I can't..."

Something flew through the air between Lissandra and the chair. Ali recoiled as _the Glaive_ flew unerringly to slice the connections that bound the tormented girl to the chair. She collapsed to the floor, instantly and totally unconscious as Hayden Tenno stepped into view to catch his Glaive. His face was impassive as he stared at the group and then at the chair.

"You never said what happened when you went into the program, Lynn." Hayden said very softly. Ali shook his head as Lynn appeared beside him, her face ashen. Cass appeared beside her and fell to his knees beside Lissandra.

"It is not something I am proud of." Lynn said softly as she too knelt beside Lissandra's still form. "At my direction, Salia killed the program and in doing so? Killed herself and doomed everyone in it besides him." She nodded to Ali who bowed his head. "Lissandra has done far better than we did, but still..." She shook her head. "The program will continue until stopped."

"Or redirected." Ali said softly. Lynn jerked, staring at him as he bowed to Lissandra! "I owe you and Nyx my life. May I pay my debt?"

"You really think we would trust you with such power?" Lynn demanded. Ali shook his head.

"You know what will happen when I sit down in that chair." Ali said with a grunt. "I won't survive that."

"No." Lissandra's voice was weak and filled with pain. Everyone turned to see her staring up at the group. "Get….. out..." She said weakly.

"Lissandra?" Lynn asked as power stared to flare again. This time, it was different and there was no voice attached to it. "What did you do?"

"Showed it the futility. Filtered out the program command that made it continue beyond reason. It realized what it had done. It chose oblivion. Data... fragmenting." Lissandra's eyes closed and she collapsed. "Can't hold it… long. Get them… out of here." She begged. Cass grabbed for her, but hissed as power scorched his fingers.

"I am not leaving her!" Cass jerked away as Lynn reached for him. She stared at him and then at Hayden who took Shepherd from Ali.

"It is his choice, Lynn." Hayden said sadly. "After all the choices I took from you? I have no right to choose for him or anyone else."

"Go." Cass knelt down beside Lissandra, his face desolate as she started to glow brighter. "It is better this way anyway. I would make a crappy Cyberlancer."

"You are wrong. You would have been a great one." Lynn sobbed a bit, patted his shoulder and then vanished.

Ali bowed to Lissandra and Cass before vanishing as well. The other warframes did not move as Hayden looked them.

"Where she goes, we go." Mikhail said formally. "Don't let Anyo get away with this."

"He won't." Hayden said with a sigh as he hefted Shepherd and both of them vanished.

"Cass… Please..." Lissandra begged, trying to reach up and push him away, but even her bio-metal arms had no strength. "I might survive this. You won't!"

"You are not alone, Lissandra." Cass said with a smile as the energy faded from around her. He gathered her up and held her as the walls of the virtual world started to fall apart. "We have options."

"Do we?" Lissandra asked, confused. "The program is gone. I felt it fade completely."

"Me too." Cass agreed. The other warframe all looked at him and he shrugged. "As for you lot? What do you want?"

"What do you mean?" Mikhail asked carefully.

"Do you want to die here or do you want to try to live?" Cass asked. "I want to take Lissandra away before this virtual world falls apart completely, but I can't do that if you fight me."

"Where would we go?" Mikhail asked, just as confused as Lissandra.

"Back to your bodies." Cass replied as he hefted Lissandra in careful arms. "What you do then is up to you. The very _thought_ of Anyo with Transference tech is going to make a lot of people unhappy. A lot of Tenno will count what has been done to Lissandra an attack. They will likely not react well."

"She saved us, didn't she?" Mikhail asked. Cass nodded. All of the warframes looked at one another and as one, they shrugged. "I… We need time to think, but until then? We will ward her as we were ordered. Not for Anyo. For _her_."

"Okay." Cass smiled as _green_ energy built around him. _That wasn't code!_ "Then it is time to wake up."

* * *

Reality

Lissandra lay cold and still on the couch as the spider worked desperately to save her life. The cocoon had been ripped away as soon as the girl arrested so that the spider could access her, try to save her. A task she was failing. All of the other cocoons were showing signs of life now. None of them were dying. Just Lissandra.

"No!" The spider said with a snarl. "Not like this, girl! You cannot die like this! Not after all of this!"

Another cocoon heaved and the spider jerked, looking at Lissandra's still form. Then she moved to the shuddering cocoon and ripped it open. She was gentle but Shepherd gasped as the tube left her mouth.

"She is not gone." Shepherd said weakly, not bothering to try and escape.

"No." The spider was all but apologetic. "But if she doesn't have a body to come _back_ to..." She heaved a sob. "I can't _lose_ her! Not _now!_ "

"You won't." Both female forms stilled as a green flash lit the room and half a dozen hovering metal forms appeared in the middle of it. The spider jerked back, hovering protectively over Shepherd as the Sentients moved to flank her. As strong and powerful as the spider was? She had no chance against _one_ of them, let alone _six!_

" _NO!_ " Anyo's voice shouted as a wall screen came to life, his face flushed with rage and fear. " _They are mine!_ "

"Correction, asshole." One of the Sentients eased to the floor and morphed into Marlena. She laid a hand on Lissandra's cold cheek and shook her head, face sad. "They _were_ yours."

Energy flared around the room and in a flash, nothing was left except Anyo's sputtering.

Then the focused yield sixteen megaton bio-matter fusion device that Marlena had left as a parting gift detonated, leaving nothing but bitter memories. Not a hint of radiation would pass beyond the facility's borders. Not even a trace of code would be left of the horrific program.

If there was one thing Sentients knew all about? It was overkill.


	20. Chapter 20

**Tech**

A day and a half later

Cass sat quietly and watched Lissandra sleep. He didn't dare do anything else. He wasn't sure where he was, but he knew he was being watched. The medical gear connected to her was unobtrusive, but extensive. The medics were taking no chances with her dying now. Lilly lay on the bed at Lissandra's feet, the Kubrow's face sad as she tried to comfort her mistress as best she could. Cass hoped the Kubrow's love made it through whatever was going on inside Lissandra's head. He hoped his own presence had some benefit.

There _had_ to be some good to come of this horror.

So many people were angry at what had happened. The Clergy, the Tenno, the Sentients, others. Even the _Corpus Board_ was furious with Nef Anyo for trying to spread his faith in such a horrific manner. Profit was all to them, but they valued their _lives_ too. Lives that Lissandra had saved. He looked at Lilly whose eyes were hopeless as she looked back.

 _She won't wake up._ The Kubrow said weakly. _Why won't she wake up?_ She begged.

"I don't know, Lilly." Cass admitted. He held out a hand to her that she nuzzled, but then the canid laid her head back on Lissandra's feet. "There is a lot that no one knows about her physical conditions even barring her injuries. The docs are all as confused as we are. Everyone else woke up. She didn't. I won't leave you or her." He promised.

 _Thank you._ Lilly replied, a soft whine of grief sounding with her inaudible speech. _I feel so helpless._

"So do I." Cass admitted. "I am a soldier. I break things. Fixing them is usually beyond me if it is not computer related."

 _But it was!_ Lilly protested. _It was all in a computer, wasn't it?_

"Part of it was, part of it wasn't." Cass shrugged helplessly when the Kubrow stared at him in confusion. "I don't understand all of what I was told and that wasn't all of what happened. I neither need nor _want_ to know all of it." He made a face. "What I do know will give me nightmares for a long time."

 _I just want Mistress to wake up._ Lilly said sadly.

"You and me both, Lilly." Cass said sadly. "You and me both."

"Sergeant?" A familiar voice had Cass jerked awake. He had dozed off! A glance at Lilly reassured him. The Kubrow was lying as she had been, so he hadn't been asleep long. The Corpus soldier turned to see Healer Iriana standing in the doorway. She looked awful. She had clearly been crying and now? She was out on her feet.

"Healer? When did you sleep last?" Cass asked before the Healer could speak again, Iriana stared at him and then scoffed.

"Sleep?" Iriana made a funny face. "What is this 'sleep' thing you speak of? Everyone knows Healers don't sleep." She joked with a groan. Cass smiled and rose from his chair. He offered it to her but she shook her head. "If I sit? I _am_ going to fall asleep. I have been up for twenty two hours." Cass stared at her and then he slumped. She nodded. "I wish I had better news for you and Lilly. I do have some good news for _you_ , sergeant." Iriana said softly. "You are clean. Every scan is negative."

"I am not a Cyberlancer now." Cass said with a nod. "Lynn did something. I am not sure what and I refused to ask."

"Smart man. There is so much that I wish I never had asked." Iriana sighed as she leaned against the closest wall. Lilly looked at her with beseeching eyes and the Healer shook her head. "Lilly, none of us can find anything wrong with Lissandra. Physically, she is fine. Emotionally? Spiritually? She faced her past with all of its horror and it tore her to pieces. You saved her from being subsumed by the game and that is a good thing, but she ended the program, knowing that doing so had utterly destroyed the last being who had done such. We told her that before she and Cass set out to Venus." Iriana shook her head. "Your mistress did not hesitate and no matter what? She will be remembered for that. My clan counts her a member of our small family. You as well." Lilly looked at the Healer and then turned back to Lissandra. Kubrow couldn't cry, but it seemed she wanted to.

"I count her family as well." Cass said into the silence that fell. Iriana looked at him and he shook his head. "I do not presume to take anything of hers, respect or offers or whatever. But I do care for her." He slowly shook his head. "More than anyone else I have ever met."

"She needs you now more than ever." Iriana had a soft, sad look on her face as she scrutinized Lissandra. "There is nothing physically wrong with her. Whatever is happening is inside her mind and none of us can reach her."

 _Can I help her?_ Lilly begged.

"I don't know, Lilly." Iriana moved to the bed and held out a hand to the Kubrow who nuzzled it. "I do know that love can break boundaries that almost every science says are impassable. Lissandra's love is what saved her. Her love for humanity and her love for those she is closest to."

 _Can…_ Lilly paused and then continued. _Can you do anything for her mother?_ The Kubrow stiffened when Iriana bowed her head and shook it. _Those evil scum!_

"Yes." Iriana laid her hand on the Kubrow's head and Lilly relaxed a little. "What they did was evil and will have repercussions for some time. The kids alone will be a handful." She made a face that Cass shared.

The kids who had been found inside the game program were not in the best of shape. They had been playing, training for so long in that game that none were capable of handling reality. When they had come out of the game and had resumed their real bodies, most of them had broken down. None of the warframes that Nef Anyo had constructed for his guardians worked right. The one that had been intended for Lissandra was a particular mess. It was sort of a cross between a Trinity warframe and a Mesa warframe and worked like neither of them. Every specialist who had been called in had said that all of them were good for scrap material and little else.

The kids hadn't taken that well and no one was optimistic for their sanity after so long in that virtual world where they had been the next best thing to gods or Tenno. Two of them had already managed suicide despite everything that the healers could do and no one was hopeful for the rest. To have such power and discover it was mere illusion? Cass understood. Oh, did he ever! He wasn't sure _he_ was going to stay sane even though he was desperately glad that he was no longer a Cyberlancer.

"There has to be something we can do." Cass protested. "Lissandra was functioning! She was talking to me!"

"Whatever your ally did to get you out of there..." The Healer's voice was utterly neutral now, but Cass knew she did not approve of _any_ Sentient, not even _mostly_ friendly ones. "...it is not something we can quantify or describe. They say that there should not have been any ill effects and Tanah has checked Lissandra thoroughly. _He_ cannot find anything wrong. He says that it is nothing they did and he would know. He has done every test he can think of and cannot find anything wrong."

"But something is." Cass slumped and Iriana nodded.

"Yes. The only people who have faced this kind of thing and survived are not available now." Iriana said heavily. "Ali went back to his hideaway and _Lynn_..." She made a face as she trailed off.

"She won't talk to Tenno." Cass' words were not a question.

"No." Iriana sighed heavily. "I know about being betrayed by people I trust, but that? No. She won't talk to me."

"She might talk to _you_." Cass corrected her softly and Iriana stiffened. "She interrogated me gently, but very thoroughly when she and hers rescued me and Lilly. I do not know all of what happened, just that it was bad." Iriana nodded, her face grave. "She is angry. I think she earned that." Iriana nodded again. "Bur she is not mindlessly raging. She is a Healer, like you. She understands you and you will understand her. I bet, that if you can open communication, just _you_ … I think she will talk to you. Carefully. Discretely. But I bet she will."

"She is not here." Iriana slumped and then leaned against the wall. "Ali said he couldn't find anything wrong with her. None of us can, so, I have to believe that. He did like her."

"Most do." Cass stroked Lissandra's hair gently. She did not react. "I… I am not going back." He said firmly. Iriana looked at him and he shook his head. "I have seen far too much fighting, Company on Company, to have any illusions about the Clergy beating Anyo. He doesn't have a chance even without the Special Forces on the Clergy's side."

"He is getting his butt kicked. He is suing for peace already." Iriana growled and Cass snorted.

"They won't accept it the first three times or so." Cass shrugged. "He did not actually _attack_ them, so it was never going to be war to the knife, with no quarter asked or given as has happened in a couple of other cases of Holy War. That said… He _did_ hire people to assault them and he _did_ hurt Lissandra and me. Me? I am soldier. Pain is my life. Lissandra is not a soldier. For what he did to us? They will make him bleed Profit for a while."

"My heart bleeds." Iriana shook her head. "I have ordered a bed for you and one for Lilly to be fabricated in here." Cass and Lilly both looked at her and Iriana smiled wanly. "Neither of you will leave and trying to move you will likely get you or someone else hurt. None of us want that. You are her family. My clan stands with her, but you? You are her kin now. If you need anything within reason, let us know."

"May I know where we are?" Cass asked.

"This is a hidden Tenno dojo." Iriana replied and Cass nodded, not really surprised. "Security is tight here and the Cyberlancers call it home so, word of advice? Don't try to hack anything."

"Not that stupid, Healer." Cass laid his head down on the bed beside Lilly and the Kubrow shifted a bit to warm him as well as Lissandra.

"The beds will be ready in a few minutes." Iriana heaved a half sigh, half moan. "And mine is calling me. If I hear anything, I will let you know. If she wakes at all? Any time? Call me."

"I will." Cass promised.

Iriana laid a hand on his arm, gave Lilly a final pet and then left the room. Cass looked at Lilly who nodded just a little.

 _She just turned the monitors off._ _Nothing but the medical monitors_ _are still active_ _._ The Kubrow's mental voice was very soft. _If there is other monitoring, it is not something I can detect._

 _Right._ Cass replied the same way! When he spoke again, it was calm. _Lissandra? We are ready for you. Call the others._

"Done. I still think you have all lost your minds." Lissandra said in a muzzy voice as she opened her eyes. "I am not Gee. I am not that crazy girl who liked to soar and hurt people."

"That is good." Cass hugged her gently as she snuggled close. "Iriana will be ecstatic when you wake in the morning, but before then, we need to get this done. Have you thought about it?" She looked away and he hugged her again. "I am not leaving you, Lissandra. The Special Forces are not slavers. I will have a bunch of hoops to jump through, fines to pay and such, but I _can_ leave. You will need me and you can do the job."

"But this is so wrong!" Lissandra said weakly. "I am not a soldier! I am not a spy! I am just me!"

"You have been both soldier _and_ spy." Cass replied as two spectral forms appeared in the room. Hayden Tenno and a woman in a golden gown! The crown on the woman's head started to glow as Cass nodded to her. "We are clear for the moment, but we better keep this short, Empress. Lissandra is very weak still."

"I have to apologize! To both of you." Hayden said quickly. "Yes, we had to stop the program and you both decided to help, but I had no idea what was going to happen!"

"No one did." Lissandra said as she sat up. "It had to be stopped." She shook her head. "Nyx suspects. We will need to bring her in before she pries too far and possibly blows my cover. We should also bring Tiana in when we get Alicia and Mag in on this."

"The fewer people who know about this, the better." Eliza said with a small frown. "If Anyo had managed to get that Transference tech working, bad doesn't _begin_ to cover that."

"I know." Lissandra said sadly. "The kids understand and none will talk. I don't _like_ this, but it is needed. They swore to me and while I do not want them to die, they accept it." Her face fell. "I wish I could. I explained and they were just as horrified as we were and are. They chose to perish rather than chance the secret getting out."

"What my esteemed relatives did to make the copies of Tenno was horrific in the extreme." Eliza said quietly. "Until the Zarimon children, none of the tech that Ballas tried worked. All of the drones went insane. Turned on their commanders and each other." She shook her head. "Hard to blame them. No one realized the truth. No one."

"They saw warframes as simple biological robots." A new voice heralded a spectral Mag warframe appearing nearby. No. Mag! The First. "Idiots."

"Shortsighted." A hologram of a Trinity warframe appeared nearby and then a pair of Nyx Prime warframes joined her. "Lissandra… I..."

"Stop." Lissandra said firmly and Alicia cut off. "What happened was bad. We all agree that. I had no idea what to expect when you brought me and Cass into that virtual world. To explain what was happening and why after you abducted us. Does anyone suspect?" That was to Nyx who shook her head.

"I didn't." Nyx had a smile in her voice. "You are good, girl. I had no _idea_ you had subdivided your mind and his." Lissandra looked innocent, but Nyx shook her head. "We need that sneakiness now. If the Lotus _is_ an enemy now..."

"She is not." A familiar voice heralded Marlena into view, but the small female human with silver skin wasn't anyone Lissandra or Cass knew. "Or at least, she does not _want_ to be."

Before anyone else could move, Lissandra spoke to the other Nyx Prime warframe.

"Warlord Tiana, I apologize, but this has to stay secret." The human sat up with a soft groan. Cass helped her sit up and held her until she was stable. Lilly moved to sit in her lap and Lissandra started to pet the Kubrow.

"You… were working with them." Tiana looked at Hayden and Alicia who nodded.

"Yes." Lissandra replied. "After they stole us from the Clergy and Special Forces, they were trying to figure out why Anyo would take such an insane risk. Risk Holy War with the _Clergy_ of all people. They did." She shook her head. "If he had managed to make and _control_ warframes of his own? Bad didn't _begin_ to cover that. When they explained their findings, we both volunteered to help stop him. We both have cause to hate him." Se and Cass shared a grim nod. "But the threat was far greater than any of us could have imagined."

"And you didn't remember this..." Tiana paused and then gasped. "Because someone tampered with your minds using Tenno techniques."

"Yes." Lissandra sighed. "The reintegration of my mind was not pleasant. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me because there isn't. Now. I remember it all." Her face turned sick. "I wish the kids could take up the warframes even as broken as they are, but they can't and they will not live long outside of them."

"Love..." Cass hugged her and she returned it. "You have time."

"Our enemies will not wait." Lissandra said with a sigh. "Neither of us remembered the plan. Cass called Marlena when he realized he was trapped, thinking she would kill him. Deny Anyo the tool."

"I might have, once. But I grew up." Marlena nodded to the others. "If you do take the job, Lissandra count us as allies. Wary ones but allies. You saved my life." The small silver female beside her nodded. "Others will count you an ally as well and that will be good. We will need all the help we can get."

"I thought you would kill or enslave her and we needed her to stop the game." Hayden said with a bow to the Sentient. "For what is is worth? I apologize. To both you and Nyx. I had no time to explain. I hurt you both and for that? I am truly sorry."

"Trust is unlikely to happen, Hayden Tenno." Marlena said with a shrug. "But stranger things have happened recently. Nyx?" She inquired of the first wearer of the Nyx warframe who was eyeing Lissandra.

"You would do this?" Nyx asked Lissandra who nodded. "Of your own free will? The job _sucks!_ "

"No one wants the job." Lissandra agreed. "But you all think I am capable." It was half statement, half question ans everyone nodded. "Then… Am I bound to it forever?" She asked Mag who shook her head but remained silent.

"You will do very well, Lissandra." Eliza said with a small smile. "Healers make the best leaders. They do not like to cause harm, but can be pragmatic about hurting some to heal far more. The needs of the many..." She bowed her head as Lissandra rose for the bed to face the others, Cass rising to her side.

"...outweigh the needs of the one." Lissandra agreed. "There are many forms of technology that cannot be allowed out. Warframe tech is only one of those. We all agree on that. I am not sure I can do the job, but I do know that I have to try. Humanity and others need someone doing the job. Add to that? No one will suspect _me_." Everyone nodded. "Then… I accept."

Lissandra knelt in front of Eliza whose crown flashed for a moment. When the Empress spoke again, it was formal.

"Rise Director Lissandra. Take up your role as head of Tenno Intelligence."


End file.
